Give my mummy back

A New Hampshire man is fighting state law to get back a mummified baby he said is a family heirloom.Charles Peavey, of Concord, said that the mummy, named Baby John, has been in his family for decades.

"He was in our family for 90-plus years, and now we have to fight for something that's truly ours," Peavey said.

Concord police took the corpse a year ago after a woman reported hearing someone talking about a dead baby. Police said they were uncertain who the child was or how it died. Lab tests recently came back. "It's believed to be a male child and very young, possibly a stillborn or a newborn," Detective Julie Curtin said.

Peavey said that there is nothing to prove that the baby is related to him, but he's taking his fight to get it back to court. He said that family folklore holds that his great-great-uncle had an affair with a woman who died in childbirth, and the mummy is their child who died.

"My entire family is behind me 100 percent," Peavey said.

On Thursday, Peavey paid $150 to file a petition to have a judge rule on the case.

"I've been collecting silver since I was 15 years old, and it was to go to my niece, Jennifer," Peavey said. "And she said, 'Just sell the silver. I'd rather have John.'"

His niece, Jennifer Arizmendi, said that she was next in line to get the mummified baby. She said she's just as committed to getting it back. "They've taken something away that they don't have a right to take away," she said. "Regardless if he's blood-related or not, he's been in our family. He's been passed down."

If Peavey doesn't get the body back, he can have it buried, and a cemetery has offered to bury the baby for free.