Annie’s body was found dumped near a bin in Baltimore on November 2, 2008. She had apparently run away from her home in Alexandria, Virginia, on Halloween.

The ensuing investigation by Baltimore Police Department (BPD) led to a swift and puzzling conclusion: Annie committed suicide by drinking a 5-ounce bottle of Bactine.

On the face of it, BPD’s conclusion, which was later supported by the FBI, neatly wrapped up the case. The State Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death “lidocaine intoxication”. An empty bottle of Bactine, which contains lidocaine, was found near Annie’s body and had Annie’s DNA on it. Annie had left a note that mentioned she had considered (but decided against) suicide.

Pretty straightforward, right?

No, it’s not that straightforward at all.

If you scratch the surface, BPD’s conclusion doesn’t even come close to satisfactorily explaining Annie’s death, and their conduct in relation to the case is questionable at best. “At this point, we don’t know what to believe, where incompetence ends and corruption or cowardice or cover-up kicks in,” Dan McCann said.

And it’s not only the McCanns who have serious questions about BPD’s investigation.

Retired BPD detective, Jim Kontsis, believes the case should be reopened, describing it as “mysterious” and “very unusual”. Kontsis, who was hired as a private investigator by the McCanns in December 2008, uncovered several important leads, none of which were followed up by BPD with any rigor.

Just last week, on March 2, 2016, Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also started questioning BPD’s treatment of the case in letters to BPD, the FBI, and Bayer Corporation (the makers of Bactine).

Grassley is asking BPD for answers regarding two of the most glaring problems with their investigation: experts say ingesting a 5-ounce bottle of Bactine would not be fatal, and the director of the funeral home that took care of Annie’s funeral has said there is evidence Annie was sexually assaulted and beaten.

Specifically, Grassley has asked BPD “if they consulted with Bayer Corporation concerning the question of whether a 5-ounce bottle of Bactine contains enough lidocaine that would be expected to cause death upon ingestion”. He has also asked BPD why they have “withheld the results of the rape kit from Annie’s parents”.

Why indeed?

Dan McCann said the police report contains two references to no evidence of rape. If that’s true, and the rape kit results support the police report, surely it would be in BPD’s interests to hand the results over to the McCanns — it would be consistent with their suicide theory.

What is BPD trying to hide by withholding the rape kit results?

The fact that Grassley is even asking these questions is significant. Would he be writing to BPD and the FBI if the case was as neat and watertight as they’d like everyone to think?

BPD are sticking to their guns, though. The Washington Post reported that a BPD spokesman said: “There’s no indication of any type of situation where the young lady was murdered. All the evidence pointed away from murder and any type of sexual assault. We got the letter and we will respond”.

BPD has been given until March 18 to provide responses to the Senate Judiciary Committee. In light of the strong evidence that Annie’s death wasn’t suicide, it will be interesting to see how BPD defends its position and actions.

Dan McCann told the Post that he wants an investigation into Annie’s murder and BPD owes them that. With any luck, Grassley’s letters will be the first step towards that investigation, a step towards justice for the McCann family, and a big step towards giving Annie McCann back her voice.