Latest news with #BabyDoe
Boston Globe
7 days ago
- Health
- Boston Globe
A DNA technique is finding women who left their babies for dead
Advertisement Then, one day in 2023, his phone blew up. Former colleagues at the sheriff's department were calling to say that a 45-year-old woman, Maricela Frausto, had been identified as the baby's mother. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Frausto, a mother of two who owned a restaurant in nearby Hondo, Texas, with her family, had been identified using a relatively new technique known as forensic genetic genealogy. Using DNA data from thousands of volunteer donors, investigators can create family trees and use them to match DNA found at crime scenes. Frausto was arrested and charged with murder. Law enforcement investigators have been flummoxed for years by cases of newborn babies who were abandoned and apparently left to die. They are known as Baby Does: unidentified infants whose remains were discovered in wooded areas, garbage cans, or roadside ditches. Such cases historically have been hard to solve. Advertisement That changed around 2019, when police first used the enormous public DNA databases that have been created for amateur genealogists to trace their lineages as a resource to solve these crimes. Since then, law enforcement investigators have used the technique to identify nearly 40 women as the mothers of newborn infants who were found dead around the country, most of them decades ago. 'In the past, these cases were unlikely to be solved, and now it's very likely that they will be solved, and that's because of investigative genetic genealogy,' said Christi Guerrini, a professor of medical ethics at Baylor University. For police officers, these identifications help close cases that may have gone years without a resolution. But for the women being identified, many of whom have married, pursued careers, and given birth to other children, the new technology has brought the unearthing of long-hidden tragedies and the upending of their lives. At least two women among the dozens of cases reviewed by The New York Times took their own lives after being approached by investigators armed with DNA evidence. Others have been sentenced to years in prison. The circumstances that could have led a woman to abandon her newborn many years ago can be far more complicated than a simple DNA match can reveal, according to civil rights advocates, doctors, and defense lawyers. They say the new technique is raising questions that the courts are not yet prepared to answer. Some of the women who have been identified in these Baby Doe cases say they did not know they were pregnant until they went into labor. Some of the women who have been charged told police their baby was stillborn. Determining the truth of the matter can be difficult. Advertisement In the case of Frausto, who insisted that she had never heard her baby cry or take a breath, the medical examiner concluded that the baby was born alive on the basis of a lung test that has been widely criticized as unreliable. 'These women have been lumped in with other kinds of criminal cases, as though they're all the same,' said Diana Barnes, a psychotherapist who specializes in issues surrounding women's reproductive health. 'And I guess what I would say is that no, they're not all the same.' In the past, law enforcement officers working on Baby Doe cases relied on CODIS, the national DNA database run by the FBI, but that generally includes samples only from people who have been charged with crimes. Mothers of abandoned newborns typically have little, if any, criminal history, and thus are unlikely to appear in CODIS. Genetic genealogy now makes it possible to find them anyway. The breakthrough came in 2018 when police used the technique and the public DNA databases to identify a serial murderer known as the Golden State Killer. Less than a year later, police in Sioux Falls, S.D., announced that they had used genetic genealogy in a Baby Doe case, connecting a woman named Theresa Bentaas to the death of her newborn son in 1981. Frausto was 25 years old in September 2004, living in Hondo and married to an older man after growing up in an abusive household. According to what she later told her lawyers and an investigator who worked for them, she did not know she was pregnant. Advertisement One afternoon, she went to the bathroom and fainted, she told the lawyers. When she woke up in pain, she realized she was in labor. She gave birth, but never heard the baby make a sound. Confused and overwhelmed, she put the baby in a closet, her lawyers said. Two days later, she left the baby by the side of the road. After she was arrested nearly two decades later, she was adamant with her legal team: She did not kill her baby. But from the beginning, sheriff's deputies believed they were investigating a murder: The medical examiner had concluded that the baby was born alive. By the time genetic genealogy became a law enforcement tool, Springer had left the local sheriff's office, but other detectives had stayed on the case. In October 2022, working with a private forensic genetic genealogy company, Identifinders International, the detectives uploaded a DNA profile of the baby to two public genealogy databases. After a DNA analysis confirmed that Frausto was the baby's mother, she was arrested and charged with capital murder on Nov. 20, 2023. Frausto insisted that she had not killed her baby. Anthony Welch, one of the public defenders who represented Frausto, said that there was a strong case to be made that the baby had been stillborn, meaning that Frausto could not have been guilty of killing her. And the statute of limitations had long passed for any charges involving mishandling of human remains.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Nassau police identify ‘Peaches,' child found dead in 1997
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (PIX11) – The possibly Gilgo Beach-related victims known only as 'Peaches' and her toddler daughter, 'Baby Doe,' have finally been named almost 30 years after their remains were found on Long Island. Tanya Denise Jackson, 26, and her 2-year-old daughter, Tatiana Marie Dykes, were identified by Nassau County Police officials on Wednesday. Their identifications could be a breakthrough in their 1997 unsolved slayings, according to authorities. More Local News Police said they were still looking for suspects, and that the case of the two deaths 'could or could not be' related to other Gilgo Beach killings. Jackson was a 26-year-old single mother and U.S. Army veteran originally from Alabama and living in Brooklyn at the time of her death. Nassau County CrimeStoppers has increased an award leading to an arrest to $25,000. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Gilgo Beach victim 'Peaches' finally identified after 27 years in bombshell serial killer case update
The Gilgo Beach victims known only as 'Peaches' and her toddler daughter 'Baby Doe' have finally been named almost three decades after some of their remains were first found on Long Island. Mother Tanya Denise Jackson, 26, and her two-year-old daughter Tatiana Marie were identified in a bombshell press briefing held by Nassau County officials Wednesday, marking a huge breakthrough in their 1997 unsolved murders. Tanya was a 26-year-old single mother and US Army veteran originally from Alabama who was living in Brooklyn, New York, at the time of her murder. She served honorably up until February 1995, including at Army bases in Georgia and Missouri. 'Today is a bittersweet day. Today after decades we are finally going to be able to tell you the identities of two victims back from 1997,' District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at the briefing. 'The mother's name was Tanya. The baby's name was Tatiana.' When asked how long investigators had this information about Peaches and toddler, Nassau County Commanding Officer of the Homicide Squad Stephen Fitzpatrick told before the briefing: 'We had it for a while and been catching up on 27 years of investigation.' Suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann - who has so far been charged with the murders of seven women between 1993 and 2010 - has not been charged in connection to their deaths. A $25,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the killer of the mom and daughter. The dismembered torso of 'Peaches' was discovered by a hiker inside a black plastic bag in a Rubbermaid container dumped in a wooded area of Hempstead Lake State Park, Lakeview, on June 28, 1997. She was estimated to have been killed around three days earlier. The woman had a distinctive heart-shaped tattoo of a peach on her left breast, earning her the nickname 'Peaches' or 'Jane Doe 3.' Inside the container was also a floral patterned pillowcase and a red towel. Around 14 years later in 2011, some of the victim's other body parts were found off Ocean Parkway, in Jones Beach State Park, during the search for victims in the Gilgo Beach investigation. Her skull has never been found. The skeletal remains of a toddler girl - dubbed Baby Doe - were also found along Ocean Parkway in April 2011. DNA testing later determined that the infant was Peaches' young daughter. Similar gold jewelry was found with both victims' remains. For decades, both of their identities remained a mystery with local police and the FBI seeking the public's help in identifying them. Peaches was said to be black, aged 20 to 30 years old and had what appeared to be a Cesarean section scar. In 2022, there appeared to be a lead in the quest to identify them when authorities in Alabama sought relatives of a dead man - Elijah 'Lige' Howell - in connection to the victims. Prior to this, a tattoo artist in Connecticut came forward to say they recalled the woman with the distinctive design. The announcement comes amid a legal battle between Heuermann's defense attorneys and Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney's office over crucial DNA evidence in the case. The DA's office told Newsday he would not comment on the development while the Frye hearings about the DNA evidence are still ongoing. 'I'm not going to speak on any topics even tangentially related to the Gilgo Beach investigation until our hearings are concluded,' he told Newsday. Peaches' remains were found in Nassau County, while the other victims were found across the county line in Suffolk County. With the mom and daughter finally given their names, only one of the 11 victims found along Gilgo Beach is yet to be identified. Investigators are still seeking the public's help in identifying the victim known as 'Asian Doe.' The Gilgo Beach serial killer case haunted the Long Island community for more than a decade, ever since the first of multiple bodies were discovered along Ocean Parkway in December 2010. More than a decade later, in July 2023, Massapequa Park local Heuermann was then dramatically arrested as he left his office in midtown Manhattan. Heuermann was initially charged with the murders of three women: Amber Costello, Melissa Barthelemy and Megan Waterman. Since then, he has been charged with the murders of four more victims: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Sandra Costilla, Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack. All the victims were working as sex workers when they vanished after going to meet a client. Their bodies were found dumped along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach and other remote spots on Long Island. Some of the victims had been bound, others had been dismembered and their remains discarded in multiple locations. The 61-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. Heuermann was linked to the murders following a tip about a pickup truck. Valerie Mack (left) disappeared in 2000 and parts of her body were discovered in Long Island that November. Jessica Taylor (right) vanished in 2003 with some of her remains being found in Manorville that year According to a witness, Costello had disappeared after going to see a client who drove a green Chevy Avalanche in September 2010. Following the launch of a new taskforce, investigators learned that Heuermann drove that same type of vehicle at the time of the murders, prosecutors say. He also matched the description of the client seen by the witness. As well as the DNA evidence, prosecutors said investigators also found a chilling 'planning document' on a hard drive in the basement of Heuermann's family home in Massapequa Park. In the haunting document, he allegedly had a section detailed 'PREP' and noted that 'small' women were preferred. Heuermann has lived his entire life in Massapequa Park and would commute to his architecture job in Midtown Manhattan, where some of the victims worked and were last seen alive. He was especially familiar with Ocean Parkway, where the victims' bodies were dumped, thanks to a job he had at Jones Beach in his 20s, according to prosecutors. Fears that a serial killer or killers were at large on Long Island began back in May 2010, when Shannan Gilbert vanished in bizarre circumstances one night. The 24-year-old, who was working as an escort, had gone to see a client in the Oak Beach Association community when she made a terrifying 911 call, saying that someone was trying to kill her. During a search for Gilbert in December 2010, officers came across the body of Melissa Barthelemy in the marshes by Gilgo Beach. Within days, three more bodies - Amber Costello, Maureen Brainard-Barnes and Megan Waterman - had been found. The four victims, who became known as the Gilgo Four, had been dumped within a quarter mile of each other, some of them bound and wrapped in burlap. Over the following months, the remains of seven other victims were found. Gilbert's body was found last. Investigators maintain that she was not a victim, but died by accidental drowning after she fled into the dense thicket that night. Heuermann has not been charged in connection to the deaths of the other four victims: Karen Vergata and three still-unidentified victims, known only as 'Asian Doe,' 'Peaches,' and Peaches' toddler daughter. Costilla, meanwhile, had never been linked to the Gilgo Beach serial killer case until Heuermann was hit with charges for her murder in 2024. Her murder expands the timeline that the accused serial killer is alleged to have been actively preying on victims.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Yahoo
Will new testing finally ID a baby found 35 years ago in the Richland landfill?
Thirty-five years ago Richland landfill workers made a grisly discovery. A baby's body was found amid the piles of trash. Now the Benton County coroner is hoping to solve the mystery of the child's identity. Bill Leach exhumed the body of Baby Doe from Richland's Resthaven Cemetery on Tuesday morning. Thanks to a grant from a Texas-based laboratory, he plans to extract DNA from a bone and search for a genetic link to the baby's family. This is the second of four unidentified bodies at the Resthaven Cemetery that Leach has exhumed. 'This has always been on my radar,' he said. 'A baby born and then put in the ground unknown is a terrible thing.' Baby Doe was discovered in May 1989 by a heavy equipment operator at the landfill. The infant was likely a day or two old and still had its umbilical cord. The baby's gender has never been made public. Police and landfill employees called the discovery a 'freak accident' because of the large volume of garbage coming into the landfill each day, according to follow-up story written in 2004. The Richland Cemetery Association donated a burial plot for a proper burial and helped pay for a grave marker. Einan's at Sunset Funeral Home arranged for a graveside service. Richland police searched in vain for the child's identity. Leach said the initial autopsy determined the baby was not born premature and it wasn't clear if the baby was alive or dead when it was dumped, though there were no signs that it was killed. Investigators at the time sent samples in for DNA testing, but the technology was still new at the time and it didn't net any results, said Leach. Even a decade later, there was little hope of discovering the baby's identity. The baby's DNA will the second case the Benton County coroner has sent to the Texas-based laboratory Othram. The first was from the body of a woman discovered in the Columbia River near the blue bridge in September 1986. A person researching grave sites discovered the Jane Doe on and called Leach to ask if he had any information about her. After testing, searching databases and interviews, Leach and Benton County sheriff's deputies determined it was the body of Patricia Kay Rodriguez. The mother of four disappeared after stopping by a Yakima restaurant on her way to work in 1983. While police weren't able to use the information to determine how she died, they solved part of the mystery for her children and other family members. Othram uses forensic genetic genealogy techniques to solve cold cases and to determine the identity of bodies. They compare their samples to publicly available databases looking for relatives. The lab has solved several cases around Washington state. The Woodland, Texas company's technology enables the U.S. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, according to their website. The laboratory has helped solve a 1978 murder in Spokane, identified the body of a man found in a wooded area near Newport and ID'd a man based on a small fragment of his skull found in the Spokane River. They also helped identify a body discovered on Franklin County's Scootney Reservoir in 2021. The search for Baby Doe's relatives may be more difficult because the child appeared to be abandoned shortly after being born, Leach said. The baby isn't likely to have a birth certificate and there may not be anyone looking for them. 'We're hoping to find a sibling or, ideally, the parents,' Leach said. 'Finding the family is the ultimate goal and putting a name with the baby and then maybe reuniting the baby with the family so it can be in the right place.' It's not clear at this point whether there was a crime involved. Leach said the search won't be easy. 'If somebody is aware who this is, if they were just to call the Richland Police Department and speak to Detective Cameron Fancher and explain to them what they know that would be a huge benefit to this investigation,' he said.
