MI MI - Warren, 'Baby Joan Doe', WhtFem Newborn, UP88243, in plastic bag, Apr'99

I can't find this baby in NamUS so that means she was identified at some point?

mclifford973 said:

I can't find this baby in NamUS so that means she was identified at some point?

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Did you try any other sites?

Missing in Michigan

The Charley Project

@Nina Michigan

Laughing said:

Did you try any other sites?

Missing in Michigan

The Charley Project

@Nina Michigan

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I'm not familiar with this case. Sorry.

Baby Joan Doe is now on NamUs

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

#UP88243
ME/C Case Number 549-99

Sex Female
Race/Ethnicity White/Caucasian
Estimated Age Group Infant
Height Cannot Estimate
Weight Cannot Estimate

Date Body Found April 29, 1999
NamUs Case Created January 21, 2022
Location Found Map
Location Warren, Michigan 48092
County Macomb County

Circumstances of Recovery infant was found in a shopping bag behind a vacant house

Condition of Remains Recognizable face

Hair Color Black
Left Eye Color Unknown
Right Eye Color Unknown

Just got this from Warren MI Police - Who is "Baby Joan Doe" (1999)?

Nina Michigan said:

Just got this from Warren MI Police - Who is "Baby Joan Doe" (1999)?

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Thank you for sharing the link!

I found this: Help families get the answers they deserve

sadnews said:

I found this: Help families get the answers they deserve

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Which I posted yesterday

I really hope enough funds are raised to get this baby identified, how horrible and tragic

coco said:

I really hope enough funds are raised to get this baby identified, how horrible and tragic

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We will get it done. Some cases take longer than others, we will go after them all.

On April 29, 1999, the body of a female baby was found in a plastic grocery bag hanging on a fence behind the garage of an unoccupied house in Warren.

The baby was never identified and to this day, the case remains unsolved. She is buried at Clinton Grove Cemetery in Clinton Township as “Baby Joan Doe” but Jim Twardesky, Warren police detective, is hopeful DNA science that was not available in 1999 will lead to closure in this 23-year-old cold case.

“DNA science has come a long way since 1999,” said Twardesky. “Back then, they could only do a blood draw and a paternity test. Over the years we have done a handful of those, but have never been able to identify Baby Joan’s parents.”

Baby Joan was found behind a garage in the 5000 block of Lyon Circle South in Warren by Oak Park resident Daniel McCarty who owned the home and told police he was scheduled to close on the sale of it the following day and had come to gather trash at the house when he found the baby in the bag.
A female baby’s body was found in a plastic grocery story hanging on this fence in Warren in 1999. Warren police are using new DNA technology to try and solve this cold case.(PHOTO WARREN POLICE)

The full-term baby weighed five pounds, had black hair, appeared to be Caucasian and had its umbilical cord still attached. At the time, the Macomb County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and determined the baby had died from asphyxiation and had been deceased for five days.

“We believe the mother to be a juvenile based on some of the evidence found at the scene and because a younger person would be more likely to take this route,” said Twardesky. “We would like to identify the mother or father; the biggest thing is to put a name on the child.”

Warren police are now teaming with Orthram laboratories in Texas to build a comprehensive genealogical profile for Baby Joan Doe with the goal of establishing an identity for the infant and her closest living relative.

This house on Lyons Circle South was unoccupied when the body of the baby was found more than 20 years ago.(PHOTO WARREN POLICE)

DNA collected by law enforcement agencies can only be matched against DNA that is collected lawfully – which in the past meant that it was collected in the course of someone being arrested on a felony charge. To date, Baby Joan’s parents have not been arrested for a felony because no matching DNA has been found in the system.

“Anyone who has ever donated DNA for Ancestry.com or any of those family tree type sites is included in the database,” said Twardesky. “We will take the DNA of our victim and see if there are any connections in the database. The best case scenario is that we find the mother, but we might find a cousin, fourth removed.”

This kind of DNA testing is expensive, which Twardesky says has been prohibitive with regard to solving cold cases in the past. Othram uses crowdfunding to support the research for their projects, which enables more law enforcement agencies to make use of the science.

“Othram does the same thing that everyone else does as far as the science, but they use crowdfunding to raise the money so agencies do not have to spend money they may not have in their budget,” said Twardesky. “We are working with a media specialist from Othram to hopefully raise money as well as awareness about this case.”

Warren police also plan to use Othram in an attempt to solve a 2012 cold case where body parts were found in a city sewer and never identified.

The process of developing a genealogical profile for Baby Joan Doe and searching for a DNA match could take two years. Twardesky has not given up hope that someone has knowledge of the incident and will be willing to talk to police.

“We believe that somebody knows something,” said Twardesky. “If we got one good tip, we could close this case in a month.”

othram said:

We will get it done. Some cases take longer than others, we will go after them all.

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C'mon everyone - this baby's case is less than one-third funded.

Melt71 said:

C'mon everyone - this baby's case is less than one-third funded.

Who is "Baby Joan Doe" (1999)?

Warren Police Department Teams with Othram to Identify Baby Joan Doe

dnasolves.com

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Thanks for the support, everyone!

Just listened to Kristen Mittelman of Othram on a podcast (yes I’m still listening to late 2022 casts!) and they donated to this case. I’m so glad it ended up funded!

Melt71 said:

Just listened to Kristen Mittelman of Othram on a podcast (yes I’m still listening to late 2022 casts!) and they donated to this case. I’m so glad it ended up funded!

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I also donated