Identified! MN - Red Wing/Old Frontenac, infant siblings: Jamie (Fem/UP4795/Nov'99) / Cory (Male/UP4794/Dec'03) *Mother Arrested*

[NYCGenealogist]

This case bothers me a great deal, and has had little to no attention here- I've only found a side mention of it in a very old post about a similar, unrelated case in the same area.

On November 4, 1999, fishermen discovered the body of a newborn baby girl was found near the docks on the shore of the Mississippi River in the town of Red Wing, Minnesota. Her umbilical cord was still attached and she was wrapped in a white towel, which was still floating in the river. She had been born alive, and dumped in the river about a week before she was found.

As we all know, dumped babies are sadly not unusual. The police tried to find the mother- at first dozens of tips were coming in, but no one matched the crime. They had either never been pregnant, or their alibis checked out. The others were exonerated by DNA.

The case went cold. A family who had lost a child "adopted" the baby girl and gave her a burial. People forgot and time went on.

Then, on the afternoon of December 7, 2003, teenaged girls on a church hike in Frontenac, a town near Red Wing, discover the body of a baby boy floating just off the shore of Lake Pepin. The police are called. Detective Pat Thompson said later:

“In both cases we have the victims, apparently both dumped in the water. No witnesses and little, if any, physical evidence. Based on the facts we had at the time the second baby was discovered, we believed we had two separate cases. At least that’s what we thought.”
​

The only clue to the boy's identity is a blue towel found at the crime scene. He was, at the most, two weeks old.

DNA is run, in the hopes that the police will get a lead. And a match appears- to the baby discovered in 1999. According to the DNA, the two infants share a mother.

There are no leads on who this woman is. Personally, I think that she will just keep doing this again and again. Psychologists on the case characterize her as impulsive, in denial, and possibly suffering from postpartum psychosis.

The boy was buried beside his sister by the same family. Another, unrelated, infant found in similar circumstances in 2007 was also buried with them.

News link: The river of secrets around one mother and two floating Minnesota babies | City Pages

Her NAMUS entry: Unidentified Person Case
His NAMUS entry: Unidentified Person Case

 

[Owutatangledweb]

So so sad. I wonder if the woman who did this has any living children. So hard to fathom the circumstances under which someone could do this.

 

[NYCGenealogist]

So so sad. I wonder if the woman who did this has any living children. So hard to fathom the circumstances under which someone could do this.

I have a few theories.

1. That she did this on her own, either due to postpartum psychosis (as suggested in the article) or another mental illness. The infants' postmortems didn't indicate any maternal drug use.

2. That she is being held captive by someone who is impregnating her. In this case, there would have to be more than one man involved as the children didn't share a paternal match.

In either situation, my deep fear is that these two are only the babies that have been found- that more were thrown into the water in other locations, or swept away.

 

[fidgeypie]

Oh my gosh how sad. Poor children. Following this thread. I guess they don't know if the children shared the same father?

 

[NYCGenealogist]

Oh my gosh how sad. Poor children. Following this thread. I guess they don't know if the children shared the same father?

The two do not share the same father. And neither father was related to the shared mother.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Postpartum psychosis is highly unlikely as the female was newly born (cord still attached). Rarely, does PPS begin in the first few days after birth. Usual onset is in the first few weeks (2-6)
As much as I would like to be sympathetic, the fact remains that not once but TWICE the same woman gave birth and threw her child in the river, murdering them.

 

[NYCGenealogist]

Postpartum psychosis is highly unlikely as the female was newly born (cord still attached). Rarely, does PPS begin in the first few days after birth. Usual onset is in the first few weeks (2-6)
As much as I would like to be sympathetic, the fact remains that not once but TWICE the same woman gave birth and threw her child in the river, murdering them.

This was my impression as well- I was only saying that because the doctor quoted in the article mentioned it.

So either we're dealing with someone who is quite literally just dumping babies, or a situation where a woman is being held captive and used as a sex slave/being pimped out.

I spoke to someone from the area and he explained that there isn't a homeless population there- it's a very, very small town and rural area. He also said that a local theory was that both babies were tossed in on the Wisconsin side of the river and washed ashore in Red Wing/Old Frontenac.

The fact that the boy stayed alive longer sort of indicates to me that it was the mother doing this- maybe she regretted the first one, tried to keep the second, and then changed her mind? But then why not take advantage of safe haven laws?

 

[RememberingRyan]

While this obviously happened at least twice and may have happened more than that, I don't think that two cases from 15 and 19 years ago is reason to believe that this person is currently continuing this pattern.

 

[fidgeypie]

The two do not share the same father. And neither father was related to the shared mother.

Gotcha thanks.

 

[NYCGenealogist]

While this obviously happened at least twice and may have happened more than that, I don't think that two cases from 15 and 19 years ago is reason to believe that this person is currently continuing this pattern.

Yes, but if the woman is being held captive, she still could be being victimized. And even if she isn't, knowing who did this isn't minor.

Just because it happened 15, 19 years ago doesn't mean it doesn't matter.

 

[fidgeypie]

I've just seen a reddit post that links four babies found.

 

[NYCGenealogist]

I've just seen a reddit post that links four babies found.

Yes; the two more recent babies aren't related genetically, and both bodies were abandoned differently.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

I have a few theories.

1. That she did this on her own, either due to postpartum psychosis (as suggested in the article) or another mental illness. The infants' postmortems didn't indicate any maternal drug use.

2. That she is being held captive by someone who is impregnating her. In this case, there would have to be more than one man involved as the children didn't share a paternal match.

In either situation, my deep fear is that these two are only the babies that have been found- that more were thrown into the water in other locations, or swept away.

Those same two things also crossed my mind.

 

[fidgeypie]

Yes; the two more recent babies aren't related genetically, and both bodies were abandoned differently.

Yes that's very true

 

[YaYa_521]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Female Doe​

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP4795
Female, White / Caucasian
Date Found. November 4, 1999
Location Found. Red Wing, Minnesota
Estimated Age Range 0-12 Months

Estimated Age Group Infant
Estimated Age Range (Years) 0-1
Estimated Year of death. 1999
Height. 1' 9"(21 inches) , Measured
Weight 6 lbs, Estimated
Hair Straight, brown hair
Eye Description Irides are dark in color
Other distinctive physical characteristic - Feet are 8 cm in length.
The body was wrapped in a towel.

Street Address
10 yards North of Levee Dr
Red Wing, Minnesota 55066
Goodhue County

Circumstances of Recovery
A full term infant with umbilical cord still attached was found 10 yds north of the Mississippi shore near 800 Levee Dr, Redwing MN. The body showed slight signs of decomposition upon discovery. The infant had not been in the water for long. The race of the decedent is most likely white. This infant is genetically related maternally to the decedent in case# GC03-127.

 

[Legally Bland]

RED WING, Minn. — The Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office will look to use DNA analysis to help solve the deaths of three newborns found in the Mississippi River at three separate locations spanning nearly a decade. And it’s asking for the public to help make it happen.

The sheriff’s office has committed $5,000 to fund genetic genealogy analysis of the first body, that of a baby girl found in the water in 1999 by a fisherman near Red Wing, Minn., according to a news release Monday, Aug. 3.

Minnesota sheriff raising funds for family DNA analysis in unsolved newborn deaths | Grand Forks Herald

 

[Dylansmom08]

I find it very sad that so many babies are being thrown away like this. I have started a map of unidentified children to see if I can find any patterns or links between any of them and it's unreal how many newborns are being just disposed of and well after the safe haven laws were put in place.

 

[dotr]

Sept 5 2020
Donations for cold case infants' DNA testing exceed goal | Post Bulletin

Composite sketches of three newborns found dead and recovered years apart in the Mississippi River are posted to a justicedrive.org page set up by the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office. Authorities are raising funds to pay for genetic genealogy analysis in the long-unsolved cases. (Submitted illustration)

''RED WING -- The unsolved deaths of three infants were the first topic of discussion during the Tuesday, Sept. 1, Goodhue County Board meeting.

Anonymous donors gave $12,550 for the funds needed to test the infants’ DNA.

According to a report by Chief Deputy Jeremy Lerfald, the first infant was found in 1999 by a fisherman in Red Wing. The baby girl had been wrapped in a towel and was floating in the water. In 2003, a baby boy was found washed ashore on Lake Pepin. Eventually, investigators learned through a DNA test that these two infants were related by at least one parent.

Then, in 2007, a newborn baby girl was discovered in the Treasure Island Resort & Casino Marina. Lerfald’s report states that this infant was unrelated to the first two, “but the details are eerily the same.”

''Kelly went on to report that Parabon Snapshot DNA Analysis results for the first infant found some potential familial links and the department is working to use those leads.''

 

[ballads1]

The composites of the babies are making my heart break. They all look so sweet and gentle.

Regarding the related babies, the first thing that came to my mind was that the mother could be part of a sex trafficking ring of some sort and was unable to have an abortion. It definitely seems like a situation where the mother is being held captive in one way or another.

 

[Melt71]

July 6 2021 - A Break In the Case of Three Dead Babies Found in the Mississippi River
A break in the case of three dead babies found in Mississippi River? – Twin Cities