Arizona woman charged in the 45-year-old cold case of a dead newborn after shocking breakthrough

One may think that a cold case that remains unsolved for 45 years may never be solved, but there’s always a slim chance that a breakthrough could happen at any moment. Such is the case with baby “Rebecca,” a newborn who was found dead in 1981 at the Valley City State College campus. Police have formally charged 65-year-old, Nancy Jean Trottier with the murder of the baby.

The body of baby Rebecca was discovered 45 years ago. The body had been stuffed into a plastic bag and the umbilical cord was still attached. An autopsy on the newborn revealed that she had been alive after her birth and that the cause of death had been the result of acute asphyxia.

Despite the evidence pointing to the cause of death being murder police at the time failed to find a lead on the case and nobody was ever charged. For four-and-a-half decades the case sat cold. Justice for baby Rebecca remained elusive. But in the past few years advances in DNA technology have given investigators new leads to work off of. 

In 2019, Rebecca’s body was exhumed and DNA was extracted from the remains. A genealogy from August 2020 pointed to possible relatives according to an article from the New York Post. This new lead pointed to Trottier as the main suspect in the murder.

Investigators questioned Nancy Jean Trottier

The now 65-year-old woman was arrested on April 7 and charged with the murder of baby Rebecca. This came after Trottier was initially interviewed by police in October 2021 when she allegedly told officers “Maybe it was me,” adding, “It could be, maybe it was me.” She also agreed to provide a DNA sample and in December of 2021 investigators took samples from her and her husband.

The results weren’t returned until June 2023 and they were shocking to say the least. According to the results it was 3.481 quadrillion times more likely that baby Rebecca was the child of Trottier and her husband than any other.

Trottier had been a student at Valley City State College between 1978 and 1982. DNA which was consistent with her profile was also found on tissue paper which had been recovered from the crime scene in 1981.

Nancy Jean Trottier appeared in court on Monday and is facing the most serious felony classification which could see her serving life in prison if found guilty. While it may have taken nearly half a century, it just goes to show that cold cases can and still are being solved after such long periods of time.