Reward Offered for ID of 'Baby Grace'

Nov. 20, 2007 — -- The FBI has offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the positive identification of "baby Grace," a young girl whose body was found stuffed in a box and abandoned along a Texas waterway last month.

"We're not talking about solving a crime, just her identity," Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo, spokesman for the Galveston County Sheriff's office, told ABC News.

The case generated international interest as authorities tapped the public for help, releasing a sketch of the blond-haired girl and naming her Grace.

Tips flooded the Galveston County Sheriff's Office, with investigators working over 300 active leads in the past three weeks, according to Tuttoilmondo. He added that many callers incorrectly suggested that the remains were that of Madeleine McCann, the British child who went missing from a Portuguese hotel room in May just days before her fourth birthday. Madeleine remains missing.

Tuttoilmondo said that they have been contacted by police or the families of over 100 different missing girls around the country who fit the girl's description.

In one of the latest leads, ABC News' Houston affiliate KTRK said Monday that investigators were looking into a case involving a missing girl in Spring, Texas, about 60 miles from Houston.

That girl is described as about 2-and-a-half years old with long, wavy blond hair -- both characteristics matching baby Grace's profile. The girl was last seen in July when her mother, who is from Ohio, reportedly gave the child to someone who presented her with documents that appeared legitimate and demanded custody of the girl, according to KTRK.

But the girl's father, who still lives in Ohio, told authorities that he did not have custody of the child, KTRK reported, and Ohio officials had no record of legal documents that would have transferred custody from the girl's mother to her father. It's unclear who came to the woman's house in Texas that day.

Tuttoilmondo acknowledged that authorities are looking into this case, but said it is just one of many that they are investigating as possibilities.

"We have a host of other girls that are being looked at that people believed that baby Grace may be related in one way or another," Tuttoilmondo said. "Lacking any absolute fact, or scientific evidence of any nature, we cannot say for sure."

Authorities have also released photos of the sneakers baby Grace was wearing as well as her pink outfit, which likely was purchased at a Target store.

The plastic utility box was discovered by a fisherman on a small island in the Galveston County coastal area on Oct. 29.

"What we continue to focus on in in identifying baby Grace is that little tip that seems so minor, but may be the one," Tuttoilmondo said.

A memorial service for the girl was held earlier this month and a 4-foot-tall wooden cross was placed on island where her body was found. An exact cause of death remains unknown, but the girl had suffered a skull fracture.

Anyone with information about the girl can call the Galveston County Sheriff's office at (866) 248-8477.

To see the FBI announcement on the Baby Grace reward, click here.