When word first surfaced 10 days ago that a baby had been tossed from the Miller Street overpass onto H-1, it took a few minutes for the news to sink in.

Who could have done such a thing? Whose child was it? Why hadn't someone called to say their child was missing? What kind of unthinkable scene must be unfolding on H-1 just then?

Reporters and photographers were rounded up and sent on the tragic mission: to piece together one of the most horrendous news stories to surface in years.

Despite the difficult assignment, they gathered information quickly to post online. Bruce Asato photographed the crime scene on the freeway with the overpass overhead while Rich Ambo recorded suspect Matthew Higa's arrest and videotaped a witness who saw what happened. Photographer Rebecca Breyer was on the scene when the mother of 23-month-old Cyrus Belt was given the terrible news.

Reporters Mary Vorsino, Kim Fassler, Rod Ohira, Loren Moreno and Robbie Dingeman put together our three stories in the package and filed numerous online updates all day.

At our afternoon news meeting, the mood was somber. The usual banter about story selection was replaced by grim silence. We debated whether to show the freeway with the baby's body underneath a white sheet. After a discussion, we agreed that the photo told the story but shuddered at the scene. It also was necessary to show Higa prominently.

The next day reporters turned up fresh details: the toddler's mother, Nancy Chanco, described Higa as a pervasive drug user — police suspect he was on crystal meth the day of his arrest— and said that she would never leave Cyrus with Higa because he was overly aggressive with the baby. On videotape, she also accused Higa of stealing her child.

Reporter Lynda Arakawa interviewed Chanco's father, Lilo Asiata, who said he was asleep and didn't know that Chanco had left the baby in his care. The state Department of Human Services said Cyrus had been removed from Chanco's care for four days last year because of her drug abuse. Fassler described the scene at the Miller Street overpass, where hundreds of flowers, balloons and toys had formed a memorial for the boy as people struggled with their grief.

We had chosen a photo of the overpass memorial for Page One on Saturday but it felt inadequate so we selected instead a three-column photo of the boy so readers could see his face for the first time. It was a jarring, but necessary, presentation.

Late Saturday, the state Department of Human Services released 185 pages of documentation in the case which detailed the extensive drug use of Chanco and the boy's father, David Belt, serving a five-year sentence at a minimum security facility. The report said that Chanco's three children were at "severe risk for serious/fatal harm" because of their history of drug use and domestic violence.

Each new fact was more disturbing than the last. Our timeline in Tuesday's paper read like a police blotter, allegations that Chanco: tried to strangle her eldest child with a rope, had a history of domestic violence involving three different men, frequently used marijuana, crystal meth and cocaine (even while pregnant); and watched as Cyrus was taken into custody of Child Welfare Services. It wasn't like Chanco had a great supporting cast. Those who surrounded her had their own troubles.

The day of the boy's death was a confusing nightmare. Chanco said she thought she left her baby with her father, Asiata. Asiata said he was asleep and nobody told him the child had been dropped off. An off-duty police officer picked up the wandering boy and returned him to Asiata while Higa stood nearby. Asiata said he then left the child with a neighbor, who took him for a walk "precipitating the freeway overpass incident, resulting in the child's death," according to DHS documents. The neighbor's name was blacked out in the paperwork but was presumably Higa.

Just 31 minutes after an HPD officer arrived at the scene to find Cyrus with the off-duty officer and Asiata, Cyrus was dead. Staffer Peter Boylan reported that Child Welfare Services was due to inspect Cyrus' living conditions that afternoon.

The reporters covering the story now have had a few days to consider the magnitude of the event.

"One of the most difficult moments for me personally didn't occur the day of the incident," said reporter Fassler. "It was only later, when I stepped out on that overpass amidst the mass of flowers and stuffed animals and looked down at the cars speeding by below and the spot where Cyrus Belt had fallen to his death that it hit me. I think it will be a long time before anyone passing by that overpass forgets what happened there."

Vorsino said she cannot shake from her mind the image of the white sheet covering the body of the little boy.

"The killing of Cyrus Belt has touched thousands of people across the state, including me," she said. "The story is one of those that I continue to think about, even when I'm off the clock. And the same questions plaguing so many others are plaguing me, too: How could someone do this to a child? Could this have been prevented?"

We will continue to pursue this case and others like it aggressively in the hope that future tragedies can be prevented.

Mark Platte is senior vice president/editor of The Honolulu Advertiser. Reach him at mplatte@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8080