WHEATON, IL — Nearly three years to the day since the remains of the infant known as Baby Hope were found inside a backpack in unincorporated Wheaton, the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office has announced an indictment. A woman, referred to as “Jane Doe,” was indicted Thursday using only a DNA profile.
The felony indictment for failing to report the death or disappearance of a child comes after the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office has spent three years working to identify the infant and piece together what happened before her body was found in a driveway on Plamodon Road on Aug. 15, 2016. In August 2017, police announced that it had been determined that Baby Hope took “at least one breath” before she died.
Newborn Baby Hope Took ‘At Least One Breath’ Before She Died: Cops
After Baby Hope was discovered, police used DNA phenotyping to generate images of what the infant’s parents might look like. The research found that the infant’s parents were “of Latino ancestry.”
Initially, police expressed concern over the well-being of Baby Hope’s mother, saying they believed she could also be in danger.
“This has been an extremely tragic case, but we have never stopped working to find closure for Baby Hope,” DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick said in a statement.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office’s “commitment to bringing justice to Baby Hope is inspiring. I have no doubt that because of their efforts we will get answers to all of our questions and justice will be served in Baby Hope’s honor.”
This most recent development in the Baby Hope case provides a shred of hope for a community that has been searching for answers since 2016. Despite not knowing her identity, the community lovingly gave the baby a name and in 2017 planted a tree in her memory.
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