A woman walking through a New Bedford waterfront park made a grisly discovery.

The woman was walking along the path at Fort Taber Park about midday on Dec. 9 when, she told New Bedford Police, she saw a blanket near a thicket of bushes next to the path and smelled “an odor of decay,” according to the Bristol District Attorney’s office. Inside was a white plastic bag containing the body of a baby who had been dead for some time.

“This is a terrible tragedy, especially when it occurs during the Christmas season. We should all keep the infant in our prayers,” Bristol DA Thomas Quinn III said in a statement. “If you have any information about this case, it is imperative that you come forward. No piece of information is insignificant.”

Investigators determined through DNA testing that the body was that of a boy and that he had been dead “for one to four weeks prior to the discovery,” according to the DA statement. The cause of the baby boy’s death is pending an autopsy.

DA Quinn said that investigators “have expedited and are utilizing advanced forensic technology” to figure out just who the baby is, which includes partnering with a private lab in Texas “to perform extensive genealogical and forensic testing of DNA and other evidence collected in this case.” The details of those tests are being withheld, his office states, because of the ongoing investigation.

Investigators ask that anyone with any information call the New Bedford Police at 508-991-6300 or the county’s State Police detective unit at 508-961-1901. Information can be provided anonymously by texting the word “Bristol” to the phone number CRIMES (274637).