Arrest made in 2005 cold case murder of baby found at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — True Crime Arizona has learned there’s been a major break in the murder case of a baby found dead in the Phoenix airport back in 2005.

The victim became known as “Baby Skylar,” and the desperate search to find the person who killed her went cold for nearly 20 years until now. DNA and genealogy led Phoenix detectives to 51-year-old Annie Anderson in Washington, who is now facing first-degree murder charges and will be extradited back to Arizona.

Law enforcement, during a press conference on Tuesday, Feb. 20, said Anderson wasn’t a suspect at the time but was later identified after investigators approached someone related to Skylar and asked for a one-time use to test that person’s DNA. However, law enforcement declined to elaborate on how the person was related to Skylar, saying revealing too much could affect Anderson’s extradition to Arizona from Washington. Phoenix Police said when they confronted Anderson, she confessed to murder and told detectives what happened that day, but they would not reveal to media what she said.

Investigators learned Annie Anderson had been in town for a real estate boot camp in October 2005, and boarded a plane to Washington after reportedly abandoning her dead baby.

Phoenix Police lieutenant James Hester said they do know who the baby’s father is, and have no reason to believe he is involved in Baby Skylar’s death.

Investigators believe Baby Skylar lived for just 24 hours yet left a mark on strangers who attended her funeral and remained in the hearts of Arizonans for years to come. Her tragic and mysterious story began on Oct. 10, 2005, at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. “There was a businessperson that said, ‘Hey, I’m missing my laptop. They notified security and housekeeping, and started looking for the laptop, and this is Terminal 4 of Sky Harbor Airport,” said Troy Hillman, a retired cold case homicide detective with the Phoenix Police Department. He worked on this case for years.

Hillman said during that search for the laptop, maintenance workers checked everywhere, including the trash can in the women’s bathroom on the ticketing level. “They ended up pulling something heavy out of the bag, a black bag,” said Hillman. “Once they kind of investigated what that was, they found a deceased newborn inside the bag.”

It was an unfathomable discovery. The baby was found in a bag with towels from a hotel chain, but even after searching the three hotels in the area for guest lists and surveillance, Hillman said nobody could find the baby’s mother. Police said in a press conference that Skylar wasn’t born at the airport. Their theory was that Anderson boarded a plane and left the state after leaving the dead newborn behind. “She just literally was welcomed into the world only to be murdered. It was just horrific,” said Hillman.

The medical examiner ruled that “Baby Skylar” died from asphyxiation — suffocation — making this a homicide case. Eventually, Hillman’s cold case team worked with Parabon NanoLabs to come up with a composite of what the mom may look like based on DNA collected from the baby. Even with that, they had no idea where Mom could be.

But then the police got the big break they’d waited years for. Phoenix police said in 2021, DNA and genealogy led them to a possible match to Skylar’s mother. In January 2022, they went to Washington and served a search warrant. After they interviewed Anderson, investigators said they confirmed she was Baby Skylar’s mother. Anderson was in Phoenix at the time for a real estate boot camp.

It took even longer for the investigation to get to a grand jury. An arrest warrant for Anderson was issued and she’s now facing a first-degree murder charge. The baby’s mom is now in a Washington jail awaiting extradition back to Arizona to face multiple felony charges. During Tuesday’s press conference, police said they know who Skylar’s father is but have no reason to believe he had any involvement.

Hillman believes there’s a reason the man lost his laptop at the airport that October day nearly 20 years ago, because had they not been searching for it, Baby Skylar likely would have never been found, gone to the landfill, and never seen justice. “It was almost divine intervention,” Hillman said.

Hillman said it’s still emotional for him knowing Baby Skylar could have had a chance at life if her mom had just dropped her off at a Safe Haven or hospital. “That just kind of burns at me to this day. This didn’t have to be this way, and somebody needed to explain why they did what they did,” said Hillman.

Hillman said with the technology they have now, killers like this will be found no matter how long it takes. “If you committed a homicide, you’re probably not going to get away with it. We’re going to keep at it,” said Hillman.

We don’t have a mug shot of Anderson yet because, by law, Washington state only releases mug shots of people in prison, not in jail. Once she is extradited and booked here in Arizona, we will have an updated picture. Phoenix Police teamed up with the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force on this case, and True Crime Arizona expects to learn more about that at Tuesday’s press conference when Phoenix PD details the investigative process that led them to Annie Anderson.

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