By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First

A version of this news story appeared in The Islander this week.

MILTON – The Chittenden Unit for Special Investigations continues to have little to say about the death of an 18-month-old child initially found unresponsive in a vehicle in Milton two weeks ago.

Police continued this week to withhold the name of the dead child or any details about the cause of the suspicious death.

Burlington Police Sgt. Richard Weinisch, the head of CUSI, declined to say this week the reason for the unprecedented ongoing secrecy in a child death in Vermont.

Weinisch said it was his decision to withhold the name of the baby, hometown and other details from the July 24 incident.  He said he was waiting for more information.  A new detective from South Burlington Police is the lead investigator.

There was an initial report the baby was found in a vehicle outside a family medical office on Centre Drive shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday July 24.  It was unclear how long the child had been left in the car that day at the office, or if the car had been parked elsewhere and then driven by somebody to the medical office to seek help from a doctor.

Milton Police Chief Stephen Laroche said late Tuesday afternoon that he had heard nothing from CUSI in the past week about the case.

Laroche has said CUSI asked Milton Police, the initial responding police agency, not to provide the community with any details after an initial brief news release.  

CUSI is an intermunicipal police unit established to handle special investigations, including sex crimes and child abuse cases in Chittenden County.  Larger communities assign detectives to CUSI, while smaller towns in the county provide tax dollars for annual expenses.

The names of dead children, their hometown, cause of death and some other details are considered public information under Vermont law.

Police in Vermont for at least 50 years have routinely provided at least basic information in death cases involving young children within a day or two to allow for notification of next of kin and for initial grieving.

The usual police silence has led to speculation in the community and on social media.

The police silence in the case also has prevented members of the public from coming forward to share relevant information that could help CUSI investigators.

Milton Police did initially report Milton Rescue responded to Centre Drive for an unresponsive, non-breathing toddler about 5:08 p.m. and rushed the child to the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC).

Once at UVMMC lifesaving measures were stopped and the child was declared deceased by Emergency Department doctors, the chief said.

Milton and South Burlington Police helped clear the way for the ambulance in an effort to get the child to the medical center as fast and safe as possible, Laroche had reported at the time.