An arrest was made in a 1997 cold case
A 58-year-old woman has been arrested in the cold case of the unidentified baby, “Baby Garnet.” The woman was arrested on July 12 in Wyoming, where she confirmed she was the child’s mother.
On June 26, 1997, a worker discovered the body of a child in a “vault toilet” at the Garnet Lake campground outhouse in Hudson Township. At the time of the investigation, authorities believed that the child had been left in the outhouse as early as June 1. The identity and cause of death of the child were unknown, and the baby was given the name “Baby Garnet.” After a thorough investigation, the case went cold and the child’s name remained unknown.
In the summer of 2017, the case of the unidentified baby was reopened. The Mackinac County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police worked with a genealogist to investigate the child’s submitted DNA. The results provided the name of who could potentially be the mother of “Baby Garnet.”
The mother was identified and when interviewed gave police, “additional statements that provided probable cause to arrest her on the charge of homicide-open murder,” Sheriff Edward M. Wilk said in the press release statement.
The woman will face arraignment for the death of her baby and is awaiting extradition to Michigan.
The identities of the mother and baby have not been disclosed.
Additional information will be released after the 58-year-old woman’s arraignment.
