A young boy whose body washed up on Galveston's shore in October exhibited signs of neglect and abuse and died before being placed in the water, not as a result of drowning, authorities said Tuesday.

Having exhausted hundreds of leads and tips, the Galveston Police Department released a photograph of the boy, nicknamed "Little Jacob," at an afternoon press conference. The move represented a last-ditch effort to identify the child, whose body has still not been claimed, and advance an investigation that continues to be treated as a homicide.

The photograph of the deceased child's face was taken at the scene just west of Stewart Beach — a mostly deserted, undeveloped stretch of Galveston's coastline — where the boy, age 3 or 4, was found dead on Oct. 20. The graphic image, which can be viewed on the Galveston Police Department's Facebook page, has been minimally altered to account for slight decomposition from water exposure.

WARNING (Graphic Photo): Police release photo of 'Little Jacob,' unidentified boy found dead on Galveston shoreline (Photo Source: Galveston Police Department Facebook)

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"It's extremely frustrating," acknowledged Galveston police Detective Jeff Banks, who has been working on the case nonstop since the child's discovery. "You're a detective, you want to solve the case — well, where do you go when no one's coming to tell me what's happening? I've got a little boy and nobody's telling me where he is. I just hope eventually we can identify him, move forward, and find out what happened to him."

The case has proved a troubling one not only for police but residents of this island city, where about a half-dozen people drown every year. Weeks after the boy's body was found, a little shrine emerged atop the seawall near Seventh Street, including rain-soaked stuffed animals, a deflated balloon, a jar of sand and a pumpkin with "Baby Doe" painted in green letters.

An analysis conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and National Weather Service of currents and tidal patterns based on Galveston's topography indicated that the boy died around Oct. 17-18, and that his body was placed in the water around Galveston County, possibly toward East Beach or near the Houston Ship Channel in Galveston Bay. An autopsy indicated the boy, who was found unclothed, had been in the water for 12 to 48 hours before he was found.

The Galveston County medical examiner has not yet determined a cause of death, but said the boy had signs of abuse and neglect, though none of the injuries appeared to be fatal.

Authorities found signs of possible malnourishment, as the boy weighed between 26 and 30 pounds, roughly half the weight of a normal boy his age. The medical examiner ruled out drowning, as there was no water found in his lungs or respiratory system, nor were there any fatal illnesses detected.

Back to Gallery Police: Boy whose body washed ashore on Galveston beach... 3 1 of 3 Photo: Mike Snyder/Houston Chronicle 2 of 3 Photo: Kelsey Walling, Associated Press 3 of 3 Photo: Kelsey Walling, Associated Press





Police officials declined to elaborate on other specific signs of abuse.

"We want to make sure we don't give too much away to hinder the investigation in the future," Banks explained.

The police department's decision to release a photograph after more than three months was made in consultation with the FBI, the Coast Guard and Texas Child Protective Services. These agencies collaborated to conduct searches in local, state and national databases for reports of missing children matching the boy's description, but produced no promising results.

These agencies had pursued and exhausted hundreds of leads, and DNA samples did not give any information that would identify the boy, who was 3 feet tall and possibly Latino. Children as young as Little Jacob typically do not have DNA or fingerprints on file.

Banks, the Galveston detective, said the decision to release the photo was a painful but necessary step in trying to solve this case, after a composite sketch of the boy released in late October did not yield any concrete leads.

The investigator said his fear is that somebody who saw the sketch might have recognized the boy, but not definitively enough to report it.

"We really have no other options," Banks said. "The most important thing is we get him identified. I hate to release that photo. It's terrible. But I think at the end of the day the objective of identifying him outweighs it."

The FBI is offering a $10,000 award for successful identification and location of the family members caring for the boy at the time of his disappearance. If the public has any information regarding the identity or circumstances surrounding the death, they are encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

"We continue to believe that someone out there knows this child," said Capt. Joshua Schirard, a spokesman for the Galveston Police Department. "Someone has seen him. That child deserves to be identified and properly laid to rest but for this to happen, input from the public is absolutely crucial."

Nick Powell covers Galveston for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.com