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A Massachusetts woman has been arrested in connection with a newborn baby that was found dead in a gravel pit in below-zero temperatures in Frenchville, Maine, in 1985.
According to a report from the Maine State Police, the woman, Lee Ann Daigle (formerly Lee Ann Guerrette), 58, is believed to be the mother of ‘Baby Jane Doe.’ On Monday morning she was arrested and charged with murder.
The infant girl was first discovered on Dec. 7, 1985 when a dog found the newborn in a pit and carried her less than 700 feet (213 metres) to its owner’s home.
Fox News reported that Baby Jane Doe still had her umbilical cord attached.
As per the police report, authorities at the time were able to track the dog’s path back to the gravel pit where Baby Jane Doe was abandoned. They determined the infant was born and left there.
The case remained cold for 36 years.
“This case was the culmination of decades worth of investigative work from dozens of now retired and current detectives who never gave up finding answers and justice for Baby Jane Doe,” the Maine State Police wrote.
They said that for the past two years or so, Det. Jay Pelletier of the state police unsolved homicide unit led the investigation.
The police statement says since being on the case, Pelletier and his associates “have chased every lead and spent countless hours working and following new leads that helped identify Baby Jane Doe’s mother.”
Maine State Police wrote that the arrest was made possible due to “advancements in technology to include DNA and genetic genealogy.”
Daigle was indicted by a grand jury on one count of murder and an arrest warrant was issued, police reported. She was arrested outside her home without incident and brought back to Maine.
Daigle is being held at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton, Maine.
According to CNN, Daigle made her first court appearance Tuesday and a judge ordered that she be held without bond.