.SOUTH CAROLINA — DNA submitted to family genealogy sites helped police find and arrest the mother of a baby who was born alive and died abandoned inside a box in a vacant South Carolina field 29 years ago, authorities said Thursday.
The DNA led detectives to the baby’s probable father, who then told police that Brook Graham was the baby’s likely mother, Greenville County police Chief Ken Miller said.
Graham, 53, was arrested Wednesday and charged with homicide by neglect, which carries a possible life sentence. She had a court-ordered DNA test and refused to talk to detectives about the case, Miller said.
Every detective on the Greenville police force back in February 1990 worked on the case of the baby who became known as Julie Valentine, Miller said
The baby was 6.5 pounds, born breathing, but not in a hospital, and was found with her umbilical cord and placenta still attached wrapped in newspaper and bedding inside a vacuum cleaner box along with other trash, including an old sofa, Miller said at a news conference Thursday.
The box matched the model of vacuum cleaner Graham and the probable father had bought before the baby was abandoned, according to the arrest warrant.
“There’s a field. It’s undeveloped. There is a pile of debris. It doesn’t stand out,” said Miller, who thinks the baby died shortly after she was abandoned. The girl wasn’t found for three days.
Full Article:
Family DNA leads cops to mom who abandoned baby: police
SOUTH CAROLINA — DNA submitted to family genealogy sites helped police find and arrest the mother of a baby who was born alive and died abandoned in a box in a vacant South Carolina field 29 years …
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