DNA evidence helps solve 1979 cold case

Advanced DNA technology allowed investigators to identify a baby who was left at a North Carolina landfill almost 50 years ago. With that new information, investigators were able to make an arrest this week.

The people working at this lab hope to bring others closure.

“In the United States, there are tens of thousands of unidentified individuals and many of those individuals are long-term unidentified,” Othram Chief of Staff Colby Lasyone said.

As was the case with Baby Doe in Columbus County. In 1979, investigators found a baby girl left in a trash bag at the county landfill. For decades, they didn’t have the technology to identify her.

“This case would not be solvable without this advanced DNA testing,” Lasyone said.

Flash forward to 2024 where the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office and State Bureau of Investigation decided to revisit the case. They sent a tissue example to the company Othram based in Texas. Lasyone said his company’s advanced technology can work with even some of the oldest tissue samples.

“We’re particularly well known for our work and working on evidence that’s challenging and that may have failed elsewhere,” Lasyone said. “We used what’s known as Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing.”

They took a DNA extract from the samples and using their sequencing process, they were able to create a comprehensive DNA profile for Baby Doe. They sent it back to investigators in Columbus County, who then used it to track down the baby’s mother. She was arrested and charged this past week.

Sheriff Bill Rogers credits the deputies in 1979 who had the foresight to preserve the baby’s remains as best they could.

To Lasyone, the fact these deputies now have closure and someone is being held accountable is a reminder of why he does what he does.

“The technology exists to bring resolution to these cases,” Lasyone said. “John and Jane Doe cases, Baby Doe cases are important. Every single person deserves to have their identity.”