N.Y. toddler's death goes unreported for two years

• Toddler's body found in backyard of Farmingdale home
• Boy died two years ago
• Family never reported the death

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — A child welfare investigation has led to a startling discovery of a toddler's corpse on Long Island.

State police said Saturday that they had unearthed the boy's remains from the backyard of a home in Farmingdale, after being told by the boy's mother that he died two years ago, under circumstances that remain unclear.

Authorities say the family never reported the child's death. Suffolk County officials initially went to the home Wednesday to check on the health of one of the woman's three children.

But they grew concerned when the family couldn't account for the whereabouts of another child, born in 2009.

Investigators are still trying to determine how the child died, and why the family kept it a secret.