Death Of 'Baby Jane Doe': MN Investigators Close Case

STEARNS COUNTY, MN — A decades-old case involving the death of a newborn girl in central Minnesota will be closed after the child's parents were identified through DNA.

The child's mother is dead, and the father denied knowledge of "Baby Jane Doe."

"After establishing the parents of Baby Jane Doe, completing relevant interviews, and other investigative efforts, the sheriff’s office has not been able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a particular person committed a crime related to the death of Baby Jane Doe," the Stearns County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.

On April 3, 1980, the sheriff’s office responded to what is now 250th Street and County Road 136 — located in St. Augustana just outside St. Cloud — on a report of a deceased infant.

Baby Jane Doe was found about five feet off the roadway. She was transported to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy on April 4, 1980.

Baby Jane Doe was a full-term, live-born female infant with no anatomic cause of death, the examiner ruled. She was buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Cloud on April 7, 1980.

The sheriff’s office’s investigation continued and in 2018, authorities exhumed Baby Jane Doe from Calvary Cemetery to obtain a DNA profile. The efforts were unsuccessful, however, and a DNA profile was not obtained.

Her body was "promptly" returned to her final resting place in Calvary Cemetery, authorities said.

In 2020, the sheriff’s office and BCA examined histology blocks collected during the 1980 autopsy of Baby Jane Doe, and a DNA profile was obtained from the profiling of Baby Jane Doe’s spleen.

In 2021, using the DNA profile, investigators were able to identify the deceased biological mother.

In 2024, authorities narrowed the potential father to one of three living individuals. One of the individuals' DNA profiles was compared against the profile obtained for Baby Jane Doe, and the results indicated the man was the biological father.

In May and June, the sheriff’s office said it interviewed the man, who "was cooperative in the collection of his DNA and denied knowledge of Baby Jane Doe."

"It is important for the public to know a case like this, often referred to as a 'cold case,' is not forgotten and our office tirelessly works on these cases and continues to follow up on tips and the incorporation of technological and science advancements to draw these cases to a final resolution."