A Milford toddler died of hypothermia in December, and her death has been ruled an accident, according to the state’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Eleanora Ray McLaughlin was found unresponsive on the morning of Dec. 28 at a house in Milford. Maine State Police are investigating the 1-year-old’s death, as they do the deaths of all children younger than 3.
State police released few details about the case after the child was found. Spokesperson Shannon Moss said Friday that the investigation is “active and ongoing” but that no additional information could be released.
On Tuesday, police arrested Michele Dupuis, 53, of Bangor, whom WMTW identified as Eleanora’s grandmother, citing the child’s mother. The child’s mother did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Bangor officers took Dupuis into custody after responding to a custodial dispute at the request of the Department of Health and Human Services, the police department said in a news release Friday.
Dupuis is charged with criminal restraint, police said, and the children present at the home on Bald Mountain Drive were taken into DHHS custody.
After the toddler’s death, Sen. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, and other state lawmakers renewed their request that the DHHS release more information about the recent deaths of children, including Eleanora.
Timberlake wrote in a letter to the department that Eleanora was found dead “while living in a home alongside her siblings with no heat and no running water in the middle of a Maine winter” and that DHHS was involved with the family.
Lindsay Hammes, a spokesperson for DHHS, did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.
Hammes said in December that “the loss of any child is devastating and tragic” but could not say whether the department is involved with the investigation or had prior contact with the family.
“As a matter of statute, the department is prohibited by state and federal confidentiality laws from offering further comment,” Hammes said in a statement.
Staff Writer Drew Johnson contributed to this story.
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