Senator Asks Questions In Mysterious Death Of Virginia Teen

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A teenage girl from Virginia is found dead near a dumpster in Baltimore in 2008. Investigators believe she killed herself. But years later, questions continue to swirl about the case.

Now a U.S. senator is pushing for answers.

Meghan McCorkell has more on the investigation.

The family of Annie McCann believes that she was killed, and now they're getting some help from Capitol Hill.

Halloween 2008, 16-year-old Annie McCann left a note in her Fairfax, Virginia home, saying she was running away. Days later, her body was found outside a Baltimore public housing complex.

"I cannot live the rest of my life without knowing the truth," said Mary Jane McCann, mother.

City police believe McCann took her own life, ingesting a bottle of Bactine found near her body. Her parents say that's impossible.

"The amount of lidocaine reported by the medical examiner at autopsy was massive. It was far, far more than could be delivered by one container of Bactine," said Dan McCann, father.

They believe Annie was beaten and sexually assaulted.

Family members say McCann was last seen alive at Vacarro's in Little Italy. Her body was found just blocks away outside the dumpsters in Perkins Homes.

Now U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley has sent a letter to Baltimore police and the FBI.

He wants to know whether police asked FBI experts--would a single bottle of Bactine be expected to cause death upon ingestion? Did police provide rape kit results to the FBI? And why were those lab results withheld from McCann's parents?

Police officials say they'll answer the questions, but...

"We've thoroughly investigated the case, so there really isn't much more we can do," said T.J. Smith, Baltimore City Police Department.

Still, her family says it's not enough.

"All we want is the truth," McCann's mother said.

And say they'll keep fighting to get it.

Annie McCann's cause of death has been listed as undetermined.

An FBI review of the investigation back in 2013 affirmed the police findings.