The South Berwick woman who found a boy’s body wrapped in a blanket on her land this month has been asked to officiate at the child’s funeral in Texas this weekend.
Linda Gove and Bill Skaar, a pastor from Grand Prairie, Texas, will preside over Saturday’s service for 6-year-old Camden Pierce Hughes of Irving.
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The death attracted national media attention after police released a photograph of a blond, blue-eyed boy whom they could not identify. His mother, Julianne McCrery, 42, of Irving, Texas, was arrested in Massachusetts on May 17 and charged in New Hampshire with second-degree murder in her son’s death.
McCrery allegedly asphyxiated her son in New Hampshire before leaving his body wrapped in a blanket off Dennett Road in South Berwick. The boy’s body was discovered May 14.
New Hampshire’s Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell said McCrery is scheduled to appear Thursday for a probable cause hearing, starting at 1 p.m. in Hampton District Court.
More details about Camden’s life emerged Tuesday as the Homestead Funeral Home in Grand Prairie released the boy’s obituary.
Jason Ely, a director at the home, confirmed that Gove will officiate for the funeral.
“I haven’t met her yet, but I understand she is a wonderful person,” Ely said.
Gove could not be reached Tuesday night. During a vigil for Camden last week at the First Parish Federated Church in South Berwick, she and her husband, Manley, gave a moving account of her experience in finding the body.
Linda Gove, who does missionary work in Africa, told the audience, “Camden deserved the right to be loved. Though his life ended in a tragic way, he can see that he is very loved.”
Residents of the Berwicks held two candlelight vigils for Camden in the week after the discovery of his body. People who attended those vigils said they would have adopted the boy if given the chance.
“We talked about what happened at our service on Sunday,” said Julia Ouellette, a deacon at the First Parish Federated Church. “We prayed for Julianne, the mother. We just felt that what put her in that terrible place, to do such a thing, she needed to be in our prayers.”
Camden’s obituary says he was born March 15, 2005, in Dallas and attended the W.T. Hanes Elementary School in Irving. He loved to play guitar and sports with his older brother, Ian McCrery, who is in the Navy.
He also enjoyed reading and drawing, and the obituary says he “had an infectious smile.”
His favorite professional sports teams were the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots.
His service will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Calvary Baptist Church in Grand Prairie. Camden’s family is asking that memorial contributions be made to: Camden Hughes Memorial Fund, Northstar Bank of Texas, 3301 Teasley Lane, Denton, Texas 76201.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com
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