The 1-year-old girl found dead at a Milford home was a bubbly, happy child, her mother said.
Eleanora Ray McLaughlin turned 1 year old on Oct. 23, her mom, Erika Dupuis, said in an exclusive interview with the Bangor Daily News. Eleanora loved to make funny faces and was teaching her older brother, who has autism, how to wave and clap, Dupuis said. The toddler also loved to watch Ms. Rachel.
“She was never a sad or upset baby,” said Dupuis, who moved to West Virginia this summer and left her children with her estranged husband in Milford. She said she was working to set up a better life and move her kids south with her.
“Everything made that little girl happy,” Dupuis added.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner has Eleanora’s body and has completed an autopsy, spokesperson Lindsey Chasteen confirmed to the BDN on Tuesday. The cause of death is pending further studies, she said.
The toddler was found dead Sunday morning at a home in Milford. No details about what happened have been released by law enforcement.
Maine State Police are investigating the child’s death, spokesperson Shannon Moss said Monday. Additional information is not being released by police at this time, she said.
State police investigate the death of all children 3 and younger, according to law.
Dupuis has been in communication with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and is waiting for answers about what led to Eleanora’s death.
“The loss of any child is devastating and tragic,” DHHS spokesperson Lindsay Hammes said. “As a matter of statute, the Department is prohibited by state and federal confidentiality laws from offering further comment.”
Eleanora had a twin sister and 3-year-old brother, Dupuis said. She said she was told that Eleanora’s siblings were also hospitalized but were released from the hospital on Sunday.
Dupuis said she will be driving to Maine as soon as she can afford it.
“I am a mess,” Dupuis said. “I feel like I’m in the dark. I’m lost.”