Mother won’t be charged after investigators ID baby girl left in box in Sherburne County in 1989

Officials announced Thursday they will not criminally charge the recently identified woman who left her newborn baby in a box by the side of the road in Santiago Township in 1989, according to the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office.

The baby girl was discovered deceased on April 23, 1989, by a passerby who saw the box days earlier; authorities were unable to identify the child or her parents.

Investigators revisited the case in 2023 with help from the FBI and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. A DNA match identified the mother as a now 56-year-old woman who “admitted to concealing her pregnancy and the birth from her family,” states a release from the sheriff’s office.

The woman told investigators the baby was not alive at birth and in a “state of panic she did not know how to handle the situation,” the release states.

The original autopsy in 1989, along with a re-examination in 2023, could not definitively determine whether the baby was born alive, however two pathologists believe the infant was likely stillborn, authorities say. The Star Tribune generally does not name individuals who no longer have the potential to be charged.

“While the disposal of the child’s body was not in accord with law, the statute of limitations has run and thereby forecloses any charges,” Sherburne County Attorney Kathleen Heaney wrote in her memo closing the case.

After the autopsy, the baby’s body was released to the county coroner’s office, which arranged for a burial. Efforts to locate records showing where the child was buried have been unsuccessful. Authorities are now asking anyone with information on where the baby is buried to contact the sheriff’s office at 763-765-3500.