Woman Arrested 23 Years After Newborn Boy Was Found Dead In Trash Can

A 50-year-old woman was arrested for the alleged death of her newborn son who was found dead inside a trash can over 20 years ago, according to KOMO.

On November 20, 1997, police were called to a gas station in the 9700 block of Lake City Way Northeast in Lake City, Washington. They told authorities they found a dead baby boy in the gas station restroom. The King County Medical Examiner determined the child was born alive, and police investigated the incident as possible homicide.

Surveillance video caught a woman walking into the gas station, but police were unable to identify her. Investigators did collect DNA from the scene and entered it into the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab’s database, according to reporters.

Information from public genealogy website led Seattle police to reopen the investigation again in 2018. The website found a woman "who had both a possible DNA match and fit the description of the woman seen on surveillance video," KOMO wrote.

Investigators got the woman's DNA from an undercover operation, which matched the sample found at the crime scene, police said.

The woman was arrested and booked into the King County Jail for investigation of homicide. Reporters said she will appear in court on Friday (March 12).

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