ME - Frenchville, 'Baby Jane Doe', WhtFem Newborn, UP15152, in gravel pit, Dec'85 - *Identified* *Arrest*

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http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=state_police_unsolved&id=22478&v=Article-homicides

A woman drove into a gravel pit in Frenchville, Maine in 1985, got out of her vehicle and proceeded to give birth to a baby girl. She then carried the living baby into the woods and left her there. It was extremely cold, and bootprints were observed frozen into the blood left on the ground. A Siberian Husky later found the infant and carried it home to it's owner. The infant died of exposure, and was not harmed by the Husky. The mother has never been located, and it is suspected she is from Canada.

Criminal Investigation Division III, 106 Hogan Road, Bangor, Maine 04401. (207) 941-4071 or toll free 1-800-432-7381.
 
I am a reporter in Maine doing a story on this case. Anyone with information or interest in this sad case, please contact me. I would welcome comments and insight.

Thank you!
 
I just found a long article article about this case here. I wonder if it was written by jb90619?

The article also links to a 1985 newspaper article from when this happened. It's very short, but you can read it here.

I feel terrible for the couple that found the baby. The part where they said (paraphrased) ''Why didn't they just drop her off on our doorstep? We were never able to have children; we would have adopted her'' just broke my heart.
 
I suspect the baby was buried and not cremated? So maybe disinterrement and DNA sampling is a possibility?
 
I feel pretty bad for the mother, too. Women who do this are very desperate. I can't imagine what her life must have been like, to be so desperate that this seemed like the only option.

I don't think a woman would be in any condition to drive immediately after giving birth, especially in cases like this. She'd be too exhausted, in too much physical pain, and probably emotionally wrecked over the situation.

I think she was driven there by someone, gave birth (possibly with this person's assistance), got back in the car, and they drove off. But who was that person? What power/authority did that person have over the mother? And why did they choose this over abortion, adoption, keeping the infant, or dropping the infant off at a hospital or police station?

Whoever it was obviously didn't have any regard for the mother's health, as this was outside in the dead of winter in a very cold environment, with no hospital nearby in case something went seriously wrong. It makes me wonder if the mother is a child herself (preteen or teenager) and became pregnant through rape, possibly at the hands of a relative. And if that rapist was the one driving her to and from the gravel pit.

It would explain many things. Why they didn't go with abortion or adoption (people would wonder why someone so young was pregnant, and that would risk exposing the abuse). Why there was so little regard for the mother's wellbeing. Why nobody noticed that a young pregnant person was not pregnant anymore and there was no baby in sight. And, most importantly, why it's been almost 30 years and nobody has come forward with the mother or driver's identity.

Of course, this is only a theory and there's no hard evidence to back it up, so take it with a grain of salt. It could just be that the mom was a horrible selfish person and she did it 100% of her own volition and she's a psychopath. But I'm starting to think this may be an abused girl who was basically forced by her family to abandon the baby in this way.
 
I know this seems really far fetched, but I was researching a young woman that went missing in November of 1985 from Texas. She was 8 months pregnant. There are few details about her case, but is it possible she left voluntarily, abandoned her baby, and started a new life? Or could she have been abducted, gone into labor in her abductor's car, and forced to give birth in the gravel pit and abandon her baby by her captor? I know it sounds nuts, but thought I'd throw this out there.

Linda Ann House
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/house_linda.html
 
'Baby Jane Doe' cold case haunts couple, community


Among the list of Maine cold cases is Baby Jane Doe, a newborn left to die in Frenchville on a cold December night.

With the creation of the state's first cold case unit underway, CBS 13 is looking at the cases still unsolved.

Quiet and rural, Frenchville is nestled in the St. John Valley, right across the river from Canada. A welcome sign calls it "a small town with a big heart."

It's a heart that was broken in 1985.
 
It's a good point to raise - whether she could drive herself away.

It's very possible to give birth and right away do something else. I've delivered many babies where the mother goes out for a cigarette within an hour. They get right up to the shower. Mainly these are not first time mothers. They do just fine. A first time mother though? Yes she could drive away also, maybe not as easy, but possible. Then her age would have to be over 16 right? If driven by someone else, anywhere down to 13 I guess.

The amount of blood? Women can lose up to a liter and show little physical sign eg blood pressure low and heart rate increased, pale and faint. Half a liter is normal, and it can look like a heap more because amniotic fluid mixed in. Sometimes we think our birth rooms look like a murder scene! But no, all is fine, just messy.

Just thought about the boot prints. Size? One set of prints or two?
Border crossings - recorded?
A fast delivery? Mother not quite where she was headed, pulled off the motorway? It's not far. That would mean mother had previous births.
Hmm. lots of q's about this case. Poor baby girl. You are remembered.
 
In distress and appeared ill because of sudden period? Bit fishy. I know it was later said she was cleared. But now we have DNA.
 
Very well done, great article. I notice you hit some roadblocks. Well hell, if the case hasn't been solved in over 30 years they should release more detail and get her dna done. She is a murder victim. Slaughter a person or a child down in a big town see how fast people move!
 

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