2 years after finding bodies of newborn twins in the Bronx, police are still determined to solve the double homicide
NEW YORK -- It's been two years since the bodies of newborn twins were found in a back alley in the Bronx.
Detectives have not yet been able to crack this double homicide case, and as CBS2's Ali Bauman reports, the mystery is still weighing on police and neighbors.
The twins were found wrapped in plastic behind a Bronx apartment building. Both had blunt force trauma.
READ MORE (11/9/2020): Sources: Bodies Of 2 Babies Found Behind Bronx Building
The medical examiner found that the twins had been born alive just hours earlier and ruled the case a homicide.
"We got DNA from everyone in the building, fingerprints from the building, and that all came back negative. Followed up on tips from everyone, from the tips that came in, 'I know this girl was pregnant,' 'I know this,' and we tracked down all those ledes and we accounted for all those babies," Lt. William Sean O'Toole said.
The mystery of who these babies are has haunted detectives for two years.
"They were born into this world, and there is no closure for them, there is no family, there is no nothing, so we've kind of as a team adopted them and we'll see this through the end," Det. Brianna Constantino said.
In the months that followed, police collected donations to give the babies a proper burial. Case detectives gave them names so they wouldn't be buried as John Does.
"So their names are Zeke and Zane. One is God's gift and one is God's strength," Constantino said. "We needed something biblical, something to guide them."
READ MORE (4/8/2021): 5 Months Later, NYPD Still Searching For Answers In Killing Of Newborn Identical Twin Boys In Bronx
On the second anniversary of both their birth and death Wednesday, police held a vigil with neighbors.
"I can't judge anybody, but as a mother, I feel for the babies," neighbor Vanessa Vasquez said.
The investigation continues, now with a $10,000 reward.
"Right now, we're working on the genealogy. It's out through Homeland Security and a private vendor to see where that gets us, but that's, at this point, it's probably another three months before we may have an answer there," O'Toole said.
"How do you keep the hope alive to solve this?" Bauman asked Constantino.
"I think this is a case that nobody in my office will forget, so we will follow it through 'til the end," she said.
In the meantime, police ask anyone with information to give them a call.
A reminder from police, New York's Safe Haven law allows parents to abandon a newborn safely at a police or fire station without fear of prosecution.