Sherburne authorities identify baby found dead in 1989, no charges filed
Generic police lights. (FOX 9)
SANTIAGO TOWNSHIP, Minn. (FOX 9) - The unsolved Sherburne County case of a baby girl found dead in a box after being abandoned on the side of a road is now closed after investigators announced a "breakthrough" DNA match.
What we know
The baby was found dead inside a box on the side of a road in Santiago Township in Sherburne County on April 23, 1989, by a passerby who said they noticed the box days earlier.
Investigators say in 2023, new investigation capabilities, along with help from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the FBI, allowed them to identify the mother of the child as a 56-year-old woman.
That woman admitted during interviews that she concealed her pregnancy and the baby's birth from her family. She said she was "in a state of panic" and "did not know how to handle the situation", according to authorities. She also said the baby was not alive at birth.
What we don't know
Authorities say two pathologists believed it was likely that the child was stillborn. However, the original autopsy in 1989, and a re-examination in late 2023, could not "definitively determine" if the baby was born alive.
Despite what the sheriff's office said were "extensive efforts" to find records of where the child was buried, authorities have not determined where the baby's final resting place is.
The father's identity, if it is known, has not been released by the authorities.
The Sherburne County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information on where the baby's body is buried to contact authorities at 763-765-3500.
What comes next
No criminal charges will be filed, and Sherburne County Attorney Kathleen Heaney said she closed the case after reviewing it.
Heaney wrote in a memo closing the case that "While the disposal of the child’s body was not in accordance with law, the statute of limitations has run and thereby forecloses any charges."