A North Carolina woman faces arrest nearly 50 years after a newborn baby girl turned up dead in a landfill trash bag.
Columbus County Sheriff’s Office investigators charged Cathy McKee, 69, of Whiteville, with felony concealing the birth of a child. Authorities reported that DNA testing identified McKee as the infant’s mother. Deputies took her into custody on February 24 and announced the development the next day.
The case dates to 1979, when workers discovered the newborn’s body at a Columbus County landfill. An extensive probe followed, but leads dried up over time.
Investigators described it as one of the area’s oldest unsolved cold cases.
“For 47 years, this baby girl’s story was carried forward — passed from one generation of investigators to the next,” the sheriff’s department said, Fox News reported.
The responsibility felt by the original investigators “did not fade,” officials added. They called the matter a lasting reminder that the child deserved to be remembered and her story deserved answers.
Although the case predated modern DNA technology, officials preserved evidence with extraordinary care.
“Their professionalism, compassion, and foresight ensured that this baby girl would not be lost to time,” the department said.
More than a year ago, detectives formally reopened the investigation. They pursued fresh leads with advances in DNA technology and pinpointed McKee.
Sheriff Bill Rogers said the child remained “never forgotten” even after nearly half a century.
“As a father, this case is one that hits deeply. Every child who enters this world deserves protection, love, and the chance to be known,” he said, Fox reported.
McKee posted a $5,000 bond and was released from custody. She waived her right to counsel during a court appearance this week.
DNA evidence recently played a crucial role in another cold case involving an infant.
Last month, a 50-year-old North Texas woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the death of her newborn daughter in 2021, who was found abandoned in a roadside ditch in Johnson County.
The child was born alive but bled to death from an unclamped umbilical cord. The breakthrough in the more than two-decades-old cold case came when forensic genetic scientists traced DNA evidence to Shelby Ann Stotts of Covington, Texas.
