Father of Baby Bella: ‘We Were Very Concerned for Bella'

The biological father of Baby Bella says he was "very concerned" for the 2-year-old girl he'd never met, who was allegedly killed by her mother's boyfriend in Massachusetts in June.

Joe Amoroso, Bella's biological father, spoke to reporters after Michael McCarthy was arraigned on murder charges in the slaying. He said he never saw billboards showing a computer-generated image of "Baby Doe" and didn't make the connection between her and Bella Bond.

"I would never have imagined anything like this happening to my baby girl," Amoroso said.

The mother of Bella Bond, the child who was dubbed as Baby Doe for almost three months after her remains were found, was ordered to be held on $1 million cash bond Monday, while the mother's boyfriend was denied bail.

Rachelle Bond appeared in court with Michael McCarthy Monday. McCarthy is charged with killing the Bella, whose body was found by a dog walker on Deer Island in Massachusetts in June. Rachelle Bond is charged as an accessory after the fact.

Authorities have said that Bella was identified thanks to a tip to the Boston Police Department's Homicide Unit.

Though he'd never met Bella, Amoroso said he loved her and was hoping to be a father to her when he went looking for her.

He said that after finding Rachelle Bond, she told him the "horrific details of what happened" to Bella, but he told reporters he did not want to discuss specifics. 

Amoroso believes that Bond didn't speak out about her daughter's death because McCarthy was holding her captive, and that he would have killed Rachelle next, to eliminate witnesses to Bella's killing.
 
"It took for me to knock on the door looking for my daughter to open up a can of worms and maybe if I would have waited another day or a few more days or another month, Rachelle would have been next," Amoroso said.

A composite image of the girl with deep brown eyes had been viewed by millions as authorities tried to identify her. The big break came last week when Boston police received a tip and a search warrant was executed Thursday at her mother's apartment.

Bond told a friend that Bella was dead, and the friend alerted a relative to the image of Baby Doe, who contacted police, according to the office of the district attorney prosecuting the case. Massachusetts state police detectives then spoke to the friend, then Bond, before making the arrest. 

Bella's godmother also spoke to reporters after the arraignment, saying Rachelle Bond seemed to be a "good mother" and that she "can't fathom what's going on."

He said he and his mother had called the Department of Children and Families about Bella, but that the cases were closed.

"So, with my family and on my side, we were very concerned about Bella," he said. "We knew that she wasn't in a good situation. I was just trying to get back here to Boston as soon as possible to go get my daughter."

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