Infant’s remains to be tested

MILO – The state Medical Examiner’s Office plans more testing on the badly burned remains of an infant found Friday in the back yard of a Lyford Road home in Milo.

Police received a tip Friday from a resident who reported what was believed to be the remains of an infant on the property of Ralph Disley. When police arrived Friday, they found Disley, 46, allegedly burning the infant’s body in his back yard.

Disley was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse. He was taken to the Piscataquis County Jail, where he posted $200 cash bail and was released. His property was secured, and the remains of the infant were taken Saturday to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

“I suspect that because of the condition [of the body] it will be a difficult task for the Medical Examiner’s Office” to determine the cause of death, Stephen McCausland, public safety spokesman, said Monday. He said the infant was badly burned. McCausland said the Medical Examiner’s Office might need to extract DNA from the body to determine who the parents of the child are, and its age and sex.

Police, who consider the death suspicious, spent much of the weekend inside the Disley residence, where Disley lived with his wife and two teenage daughters, searching for clues that an infant had been born there. No one knows if the infant was born alive or stillborn, or if the baby belonged to someone living in the house. They also have been conducting interviews with residents in the community who may have some information about the infant.