DEFIANCE, OH (WTOL) - The FBI has re-opened a 23-year-old cold case in our area involving the body of a dead baby.
The body of a dead newborn was found in Riverview Memory Gardens cemetery on Oct. 28, 1994.
Cemetery workers found the body inside an old dry cleaners bag from Morenci.
No new information came from following up with the dry cleaners in Michigan, and the coroner's autopsy showed no definitive cause of death.
With all leads exhausted, the baby's identity was never discovered.
Now, 23 years later, the body was exhumed, with the hopes that new DNA testing techniques could provide a new lead in the case.
"With technology being what it is today, and also the fact that the databases have been collected for 23 years samples of DNA, we're hoping to identify the child," said Defiance County Sheriff Doug Engel.
No DNA samples was taken during the initial investigation.
The newborn had a medical clamp attached to the umbilical cord, making Sheriff Engel confident that someone has knowledge of the birth of baby Jane Doe.
There has been no talk of possible charges to be made in the case, only the desire to close it.
"Definitely somebody would have knowledge, and we're hoping that in 23 years they understand that we're just looking to identify this child and bring closure for this child," Sheriff Engel said.
If you have any information, you are asked to call the Defiance County Sheriff's Department at (419)-784-1155 or the FBI Toledo office at (419) 243-6123.
