Deceased Newborn's Identity Still A Mystery Nearly 20 Years Later, Weld County Focuses On DNA Analysis
WELD COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- The Weld County Sheriff's Office hopes that someone comes forward with information that will help them solve a case of a deceased newborn found nearly 20 years ago. The baby was abandoned and discovered deceased in Brighton.
The newborn was found deceased in September 2002 outside of L&M Auto Repair in Brighton. Employees were arriving at work that morning when a staff member spotted something under a bush. The newborn had been wrapped in a blue blanket with the words "Skate Bear" and a corresponding graphic.
Investigators say there were no other clues left at the scene indicating anything about the newborn or the circumstances of his death.
The baby is described as having dark hair with ancestry estimated to be potentially white, Latino and/or Italian. The newborn weighed about 7 pounds and was 21 inches long at the time of death. Pathologists determined the infant had been born healthy between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. the prior evening but were unable to definitively establish a cause of death. The case went cold after investigators pursued all available investigative leads and tips at the time.
"Baby John Doe" is one of four unsolved Doe cases being investigated by the Weld County Sheriff's Office Investigations Unit. This year, the sheriff's office teamed up with Othram Inc. to identify the baby or a living relative through a specialized type of DNA extraction and analysis.
"It is essential to address what the National Institute of Justice calls the 'silent mass disaster' of the tens of thousands of unidentified persons in our country," said Othram CEO David Mittelman in a statement. "However, many of these cases do not have sufficient funding support and it is an honor to be able to financially assist some of these investigations through our DNASolves platform."
Anyone with information about Baby John Doe is encouraged to contact Cold Case Det. Byron Kastilahn at (970) 356-4015. Reference case number WC02-4535. The case also is logged in NamUs as UP10386.
Anyone with information regarding this or any other crime is asked to call the Weld County Sheriff's Office at (970) 356-4015 or Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be submitted through the Crime Stoppers website at www.NoCoCrimeStoppers.com. Those submitting tips through Crime Stoppers that lead to the arrest and filing of charges on a suspect(s) may be eligible for a cash reward.
