Author Topic: GOODHUE COUNTY INFANT DOE (2003): WM, newborn, found at Lake Pepin, MN - 7 December 2003 *ARREST*  (Read 275 times)

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The live-born infant male was found on the edge of Lake Pepin. The estimated birth time was 2 days to 2 weeks from the date of discovery. The decedent is genetically related maternally to the infant in case# GC99-158.

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https://identifyus.org/en/cases/4794

NamUs UP # 4794

ME/C Case Number: GC03-127
Goodhue County, Minnesota
0 to 1 year old White Male

Case Report - NamUs UP # 4794
Case Information
Status Unidentified
Case number GC03-127
Date found December 07, 2003 12:52
Date created February 09, 2009 11:21
Date last modified February 22, 2017 08:24
Investigating agency
date QA reviewed June 20, 2011 21:19

Local Contact (ME/C or Other)

Agency Southern Minnesota Regional ME Office
Phone 507-284-2121
Case Manager
Name Lindsey Thomas
Phone 612-215-6334

Demographics

Estimated age Infant
Minimum age 0 years
Maximum age 1 years
Race White
Ethnicity
Sex Male
Weight (pounds) 7, Estimated
Height (inches) 14, Measured
Body Parts Inventory (Check all that apply)
All parts recovered
Body conditions
Recognizable face
Probable year of death 2003 to 2003
Estimated postmortem interval 2 Weeks

Circumstances
Location Found
GPS coordinates
Address 1 Mile Marker 778.8
Address 2
City Old Frontenac
State Minnesota
Zip code 55026
County Goodhue
Circumstances
The live-born infant male was found on the edge of Lake Pepin. The estimated birth time was 2 days to 2 weeks from the date of discovery. The decedent is genetically related maternally to the infant in case# GC99-158.

Physical
Hair color Black
Head hair
Curly, black hair
Left eye color
Right eye color
Eye description
Irides are dark in color
No other distinctive body features

Fingerprints
Status: Fingerprint information is currently not available

Clothing and Accessories
No clothing or accessories

Dental
Status: Dental information / charting is available and entered

DNA
Status: Sample submitted - Tests complete

Akoya

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http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1044ummn.html

Case File: 1044UMMN
The Doe Network




Composite of the victim by NCMEC


Unidentified Male
Date of Discovery: December 7, 2003
Location of Discovery: Old Frontenac, Goodhue County, Minnesota
Estimated Date of Death: 2-14 days prior
State of Remains: Recognizable face
Cause of Death: Unknown

Physical Description
** Listed information is approximate

Estimated Age: Newborn
Race: White
Gender: Male
Height: 14"
Weight: 7 lbs.
Hair Color: Black, curly.
Eye Color: Irides are dark in color.

Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Dentals: Not available.
Fingerprints: Not available.
DNA: Available.
Clothing & Personal Items
Clothing: None.
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Case History
The body of a full-term infant was discovered on the edge of Lake Pepin.

Another baby, 604UFMN, was located in 1999, and is genetically related maternally. Police believe the children had separate fathers. Investigators believe that the infants were born alive. Autopsies were never able to ascertain causes of death. The mother of the children may have hidden the pregnancies and is probably familiar with the area.

Forensic artists from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children used photographs of the bodies and the infants' skull measurements to create composite drawings of what the babies might have looked like at the time of their deaths. The clothing in the drawings is not connected to the investigation.

Authorities hope the composites can help piece together a frustrating puzzle. Over the years they have had more than 100 leads.

After the discovery of the infants, a local couple paid to have them buried next to their own stillborn daughter, under headstones that read "God's Little Angel."

Investigating Agency(s)
If you have any information about this case please contact;

Agency Name: Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner's Office
Agency Contact Person: Lindsey Thomas
Agency Phone Number: 507-284-2121

Agency Case Number: GO03-127
NCIC Case Number: U860017958
NamUs Case Number: UP #4794
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Information Source(s)
NamUs
WCCO News Archive

Akoya

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https://letsfindthem.wordpress.com/tag/unidentified-baby/

Two Unidentified Babies Discovered Deceased In Minnesota May Belong To The Same Mother

Authorities believe the two unidentified babies below may have the same biological mother. Although, they believed they had separate fathers. Both were discovered deceased in Minnesota less than three years apart.



Baby #1

Forensic artists from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children used photographs of the bodies and the infants’ skull measurements to create composite drawings of what the babies might have looked like at the time of their deaths.

The first victim was discovered on December 7, 2003 in Old Frontenac, Goodhue County, Minnesota

Estimated Date of Death: No more than two weeks, no less than two days.

Estimated age: Newborn (less than 48 hours old)
Hair: Curly, black hair.
Approximate Height/Weight: 14″; 7 lbs.

The unidentified baby boy was discovered on December 7, 2003 in Florence Township Beach in Frontenac, MN.

NCIC Number for baby number one:
U860017958 (Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.)

The case may be related to another unidentified newborn found in Red Wing in 1999.



Reconstruction of Victim by NCMEC – NOTE: Outfits shown in the age-progressed photos are not the actual outfits worn during discovery.)

The infant is a girl and she was located November 4, 1999 on the bank of the Mississippi River, in the small boat harbor in Red Wing, MN, a little over three years before the discovery of the boy. She was given the name Jamie.

Time of death: At-least 48 hours prior to discovery but no longer than two weeks.

Authorities think the composites could help piece together a frustrating puzzle. Over the years they have had over a 100 leads, yet the investigations remain unsolved.
Investigators believed that the infants were born alive. Autopsies were never able to ascertain causes of death. Officials believe that mother of the children may have hidden the pregnancies and is probably familiar with the area or possibly still living in the local areas.

After the discovery of both babies, a local couple paid to have them buried next to their own stillborn daughter, under headstones that read “God’s Little Angel.“

NCIC Number for baby number two:
U530018814 (Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.)

Agency Case Number for baby number one: GO03-127
Agency Case Number fpr baby number two: GC99-158
If you have any information about these unidentified children please contact:
Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office
Lindsey Thomas
651-480-4253
You may remain anonymous when submitting information.

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http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/ar/t29036.htm

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_5534533

Goodhue County, Minn.
Infant's body likely in river for months
Sheriff widens investigation; couple will provide for burial
BY JOHN BREWER and RHODA FUKUSHIMA
Pioneer Press

Article Last Updated: 03/27/2007 11:33:03 PM CDT


The body of a newborn girl likely drifted in the Mississippi River for months before she was found Monday near the Treasure Island Resort Casino marina, according to the Goodhue County sheriff's office.

An initial autopsy report did not reveal the cause of the girl's death.

Scott McNurlin, chief deputy for the county, said the girl had been in the water since late fall or early winter. Injuries to the body, including broken bones, likely happened in the river.

"It changes the whole focus of the investigation," McNurlin said. Initially, investigators were looking for leads from within the past few weeks related to the dumping of the body. Now, they will expand that timeframe.

The discovery Monday marks the third time in eight years that a newborn's body has turned up on the banks of the Mississippi in Goodhue County.

In 1999, a boater found a newborn girl near a marina in Red Wing. And in 2003, a newborn boy was found near Frontenac.

NNeither child was ever identified, nor was a cause of death determined. The sheriff's office is forming a task force to review the incidents. The group will include agencies from Wisconsin, Dakota County, the city of Red Wing, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI.

McNurlin said finding three bodies in the same stretch of river - albeit over an eight-year span - is "certainly an anomaly."

"It's a stretch of 15 miles, and we have three of these incidents. It's just unbelievable," McNurlin said.

Investigators don't know whether the three incidents are related. Any DNA tests would require a sample from a parent for comparison.

No parents have been identified in any of the cases.


McNurlin added that it was strange that the latest baby appeared to have been born healthy yet wasn't turned over to a hospital or government agency for care.

"That's the difficulty for the community and ourselves here. It appears to be a full-term baby," he said.

Safe Place For Newborns / Laure Krupp, executive director of Safe Place for Newborns, said the death is an unnecessary tragedy.

Under the Safe Place for Newborns law, enacted in April 2003, a mother or immediate family member of a newborn can place the unharmed child into the hands of a hospital employee on hospital grounds with complete anonymity during the first three days of the child's life.

Minnesota was the third state to adopt such legislation. Now, 47 states have similar laws.

According to Krupp, at least a dozen babies have been turned over to hospitals in Minnesota since the law took effect. Hospitals are not required to report when a child is turned over, and the state does not collect information about children turned in under the law.

Krupp said her group has compiled numbers by polling hospitals, and it gets the word out about the law by informing health care providers, schools and social service agencies.

"We wanted one more alternative to a mother placing her child in a river or a trash can," Krupp said. "Sadly, there are times people know of resources but choose not to use them."

Laying Baby Doe To Rest / Jeanne Madtson wishes the mother of the latest baby had taken advantage of the law. The Red Wing woman and her husband, Don, have stepped forward to provide burial for the abandoned girl - just as they did with the other two babies found in the river.

Pending approval of authorities, the Madtsons hope to lay the baby to rest in their family plot at Oakwood Cemetery. They buried their stillborn daughter, Ann Marie, there in 1989.

"One baby is bad enough," Jeanne Madtson said. "Then, you get two. And now three. This is just unreal. It's heartbreaking."

Madtson said she worries about the precedent.

"It's like people know 'if we drop them (babies) in the river at Red Wing, someone will take care of them,' " she said. "That's not what I want. I don't want to keep burying dead babies."

In the past, the couple received donations of money and services that helped defray burial costs, which came to about $1,200 to $1,500 in 2004, Don Madtson said. They donated the remaining proceeds to the Goodhue County sheriff's office.

"It didn't even cross my mind that this could happen again," Jeanne Madtson said.

John Brewer can be reached at 651-228-2093 or jbrewer@pioneerpress.com.

More Information

The Goodhue County sheriff's office will hold a news conference on the cases at 11 a.m. today at the county law enforcement center, 430 W. Sixth St., Red Wing.

Anyone with information about any of the cases can call the sheriff's office at 651-385-3155.

"We wanted one more alternative to a mother placing her child in a river or a trash can. Sadly, there are times people know of resources but choose not to use them."

Laure Krupp, executive director, Safe Place for Newborns

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http://www.startribune.com/local/15466916.html

Images of Red Wing infants reconstructed

Last update: February 8, 2008 - 11:37 PM


RED WING, MINN. - The Goodhue County Sheriff's Office has released composite images of three infants found dead along the Mississippi River from 1999 to 2007, hoping they will spur new leads in cases that have stymied investigators for years.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created the images, which represent how the babies might have appeared in their first year. Forensic artists prepared the images based on photos that local authorities took.

"We're trying to do everything in our power and trying to think outside the box on solving this case," Sheriff's Capt. Pat Thompson told the Red Wing Republican Eagle.

Sheriff Dean Albers said he hopes one of the images might spark a memory for someone who could provide investigators with new information.

In 1999, two fishermen spotted a baby girl's body floating near Bay Point Park. Four years later, a group of teenagers discovered the body of a newborn boy along the water in Old Frontenac, Minn., and last year, two workers at a Prairie Island marina found another body of a baby girl.

Authorities believe the babies found in 1999 and 2003 probably came from the same mother. They don't believe the baby found last year is related to the first two.

Thompson said the Sheriff's Office has developed about 100 leads, and said investigators are currently working on what he called a promising lead.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S341457.shtml?cat=10226

New Pictures in Red Wing Baby Cases

(KAAL)--- New pictures released today may bring investigators one-step closer to solving the cases of three babies, thrown into the Mississippi River.

Over the last eight years, three infants have been found dead in the waters of the river, but how they got there, and who's to blame is still a mystery.

Now pictures of what these children used to look like may help solve the case.

The pictures show the faces of the three babies found dead in the Mississippi River.

"The pictures make you stop and pause and take a look...it actually put more of a human face on it than when we found their remains before," said Goodhue County Sheriff Dean Albers.

The forensic drawings, put together by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, are based on the human remains of the infants found dead along the river within the last 8 years.

One infant female was found in 1999 in Red Wing.

The second baby, a boy was found in and the last baby, another female was found just last March at Treasure Island Marina.

Sheriff Albers says they have a new lead.

Earlier in the week they received a tip that someone may be linked to one of the cases.

They took DNA samples from that person and they expect to get results within 2-3 weeks.

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http://www.twincities.com/ci_8212622?source=rss

Red Wing, Minn. / Sheriff hopes images help solve mystery of 3 dead newborns
Pioneer Press

Article Last Updated: 02/09/2008 12:03:24 AM CST


The Goodhue County sheriff's office released composite sketches Friday of three babies found dead in Mississippi River waters near Red Wing the past eight years.

Sheriff Dean Albers released the images hoping someone would come forward with information.

"The idea is to put a face on these babies, to let people know that they were real people," he said.

The first baby - a newborn girl - turned up in a Red Wing marina in 1999, followed by a newborn boy in Lake Pepin in 2003 and another newborn girl in the Treasure Island Resort & Casino marina in 2007. The sheriff's office has made several appeals for information and has received about 100 leads. None has panned out.

The first two infants had the same mother and were almost certainly white, authorities concluded based on DNA tests. The third infant was not related to the first two and was most likely of American Indian descent.

Albers said his office recently has taken DNA samples from several people, including one woman.

The images were created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children based on photos of the dead children.

Anyone with information may contact the sheriff's office at 651-385-3155.

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The unidentified baby boy was discovered on December 7, 2003 in Florence Township Beach in Frontenac, MN.



Old Frontenac, Florence Township, MN

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Frontenac State Park



Red Wing, Minnesota. The Rush River delta into Lake Pepin


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Panoramic view of Lake Pepin from Florence Township's public beach in Frontenac.



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https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/mother-charged-in-death-of-baby-found-in-river-in-2003/

Jennifer Matter Charged In Death Of Baby Found In Lake Pepin In 2003

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Investigators say they have arrested a mother and are charging her in the death of baby, found in Lake Pepin almost 20 years ago, and the charging documents allege she was also mother to another baby found in the Mississippi River in 1999.

Jennifer Matter, 50, of Red Wing, was taken into custody Monday morning. She faces second-degree murder charges in the case of a baby boy discovered at the Methodist Campus Beach in Frontenac in December 2003.

Investigators say that another baby, a girl found in the Mississippi River's Lower Boat Harbor near Red Wing back in 1999, is also Matter's, as proven by genealogy work. The charges announced Monday do not involve that case, and further charges may follow.

Both cases went unsolved for decades.

"It has been 8,222 days since we discovered our first newborn wrapped in a towel and floating in the water near the city of Red Wing," Goodhue County Sheriff Marty Kelly said. "Almost four years later another newborn baby was discovered on the shore of Lake Pepin in Frotenac."

Last year, the Minnesota BCA Crime Lab was able to determine and identify the biological father of the infant found in 1999, and worked to establish that Matter was a person of interest. Investigators interviewed her in late April, and she denied knowing anything about either case. When they sampled her DNA sample on a search warrant last week, she again denied knowing about either baby.

On a third interview with investigators, Matter told them that back in 1999, she was "in and out of jail, drinking too much, doing a lot of stupid things," and that she didn't know she was pregnant until she started bleeding while on the way to drop off two other kids at school and daycare.

She said she then gave birth at home in her bathroom and "freaked out" when she saw the baby was born "blue, was not breathing, and was not crying." She said she knew she should've sought help but that "her mind was not there." She wrapped the baby and, possibly a day later, left the baby's body at Bay Point Park in the middle of the night.

She told investigators she didn't remember a second baby, but later said "it was in Frontenac," and said she was "almost positive" she was at a public beach alone when she went into labor. She was "trying to lay low because she had an arrest warrant and believed cops were looking for her." She said she didn't remember if the baby was crying, but said it was breathing fine.

She said she left the baby on the beach before driving away, and said she did not have a plan about leaving the baby in a safe place, but "hoped that someone in the nearby houses would find the baby."

She said during the 2003 pregnancy, she never intended to keep the baby and considered giving it up for adoption but otherwise had no plans, and did not receive neonatal care or tell anyone she was pregnant.

"I want to recognize the persistence, hard work, and dedication of our law enforcement professionals who have put so much of themselves into solving this case," Goodhue County Attorney Stephen O'Keefe said.

Sheriff Kelly said that the case was helped by the entire community, who donated $10,000 to assist the department and help them conduct the DNA comparisons, and specifically thanked one by name.

"There is one person, however, who has lived this case with our law enforcement partners alongside of us for 22 years -- Jeanne Madtson," Kelly said. "She's cared for these children, hed their funerals, paid for their burials, and most importantly, she never forgot."

In 2011, Mattson and her husband Don donated their family plot in Red Wing's Oakwood Cemetery to the babies involved in Matter's case, along with two others that police don't believe are connected.

David Vonce is one of many people who live in Red Wing haunted by the murder of the two infants.

"Those babies had their whole lives ahead of them. I don't know what she was thinking; anybody would have adopted them," Vonce said. "We as Red Wing-ites can't believe this happened because we really cherish our children. They're gifts from God."

If convicted, Matter faces 40 years in prison.

"Genetic genealogy and Rapid DNA testing were both employed to develop a break in the case and then quickly confirm the identity of the babies' mother," Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said. "These kinds of scientific advances that can aid investigations are happening all the time. That is why it is so important to never give up on any unsolved case."

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Photograph of Jennifer Lynn Matter



Jennifer Matter, 50, of Red Wing, Minn., was charged with second-degree murder in the 2003 death of a newborn boy whose body was found in Frontenac on the shore of the Mississippi River. According to court documents, Matter also told investigators she abandoned another newborn in 1999 in the Mississippi near Red Wing. A third infant found in the river was not related to the other two babies, according to DNA analysis.

https://www.twincities.com/2022/05/09/red-wing-woman-charged-two-decades-after-newborns-found-dead-in-mississippi-river/