North Dakota Woman Charged In 1981 Cold Case Death Of Newborn Baby

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Court documents show prosecutors have charged Nancy Trottier with class AA felony murder after new DNA and forensic genealogy testing identified her and her husband as the biological parents of the infant, known for years only as “Rebecca.”

The case dates back to April 1981, when the body of an unidentified female infant was discovered in a wooded area on the Valley City State College campus in Valley City. The scene was processed by the Valley City Police Department and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Investigators reported the infant’s face was covered in plastic and the umbilical cord was still attached. Nearby, officers found items with apparent biological material, including tissue paper. Those items were first submitted to the FBI lab and later to the North Dakota State Crime Lab in 2005.

The infant’s body was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where a pathologist conducted an autopsy on April 17, 1981. The autopsy determined the baby had been dead for about 24 to 72 hours. The diagnoses noted the cause of death was consistent with asphyxia. No other significant injuries were reported. Investigators believe the infant was suffocated shortly after birth. Despite numerous leads over the years, authorities were unable to identify the child or any suspect and the case went cold.

In 1981, Valley City Police had the infant buried and gave her the name “Rebecca.” With advances in DNA technology, Valley City police and state agents reopened the case in 2019. In July of that year, “Rebecca’s” remains were exhumed and sent to an outside laboratory, which was able to extract DNA and develop a profile.

That DNA profile was then submitted to another lab for familial and genealogical analysis. In August 2020, investigators received a report pointing to possible relatives of the infant. Follow-up interviews and DNA comparisons led officers to Trottier.

According to court records, law enforcement interviewed Trottier in October of 2021, about her family tree, the 1981 infant, and the DNA link. Trottier told investigators she attended Valley City State College from 1978 to 1982 and was sexually active with her boyfriend at the time, who is now her husband. During the interview, she allegedly, according to investigators, became emotional and said “maybe it was me” and “it could be, maybe it was me” when told that genetic genealogy indicated she or one of her siblings was the infant’s parent. Trottier agreed to provide a DNA sample and asked officers to wait to contact her siblings until the results came back.

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MSN