North Carolina police say they used forensic genealogy to solve a cold case: the death of a newborn baby tossed from a moving car 21 years ago. Detectives from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s office arrested 54-year-old Deborah Riddle O’Conner and charged her with the murder of the infant known only as “Baby Michael.” In 1999, a passerby noticed a bag on the side of the road and found the baby, less than 24 hours old, its umbilical cord still attached; police said he died from blunt force trauma. The case remained unsolved for two decades, until investigators sent the infant’s DNA to a company that traced the family line, giving them new leads. They say O’Conner admitted that baby was hers.
