New Mexico Community Adopts Dead Boy They Never Knew

While police try to figure out the identity of a small boy who was buried in a playground, the Albuquerque neighborhood where he was found dead is adopting him as one of their own.

Stuffed animals, balloons and little trucks were placed where the boy was found and a fundraiser was planned for Sunday morning to raise money for a proper funeral, KRQE in Albuquerque reported.

Police are calling the boy "Baby John Doe," but those in the Alvarado community are referring to him as Baby Justice or Baby 4x4, the station reported.

The boy's body was found Friday afternoon after a mother at the playground spotted a shoe sticking out of the sand and called police.

A preliminary autopsy provided no clues about how the child died.

"There were no obvious signs or cause of death," Albuquerque police spokesman John Walsh said Saturday after receiving the results of a preliminary autopsy from the state Office of the Medical Investigator.

About 50 police investigators who went door-to-door Saturday asking neighbors for help in identifying the 3- to 5-year-old boy also came up empty-handed, Walsh said.

"No one has stepped forward as parent, guardian or caretaker or any other relationship with this child," Walsh said. "Anybody who has seen or heard of any, anything, involving a child in that area, we want them to call us."

The 38-pound boy was wearing a red shirt with the image of a four-wheel drive truck on the front, black nylon pants with red stripes and black shoes. He had short straight black hair and was 3-feet, 2 inches in height, according to Walsh.

Walsh said the preliminary autopsy determine the child was either "Native American or Hispanic."

"First we have to concentrate on the identification. Two, we're trying to determine the cause of death and, three, we're trying to find who might have been responsible for this child," Walsh said.

Click here to read more on this story from KRQE.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.