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#Post#: 4884--------------------------------------------------
BARNES COUNTY BABY DOE: WF - newborn found in Valley City, ND -
April 16, 1981
By: Scorpio Date: May 2, 2020, 2:19 am
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HTML https://i.imgur.com/aVNozq7.png
HTML https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/67598
The body of a newborn baby girl was located in a wooded area of
southwest Valley City. She was found in leaves and underbrush,
and believed to have been left there within 24 hours of the time
she was found.
#Post#: 4885--------------------------------------------------
Re: BARNES COUNTY BABY DOE: WF - newborn found in Valley City, N
D - April 16, 1981
By: Scorpio Date: May 2, 2020, 2:21 am
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HTML https://www.namus.gov/UnidentifiedPersons/Case#/67598/details
Case Information
Case Numbers
NCMEC Number --
ME/C Case Number 81-141
Demographics
Sex Female
Race / Ethnicity White / Caucasian
Possible First Name --
Possible Middle Name--
Possible Last Name--
Possible Nickname--
Estimated Age Group Infant
Estimated Age Range (Years)--
Estimated Year of Death--
Estimated PMI 24 Hours
Height Cannot Estimate
Weight Cannot Estimate
Circumstances
Type Unidentified Deceased
Date Body Found April 16, 1981
NamUs Case Created March 28, 2020
ME/C QA Reviewed--
Location Found Map
Location Valley City, North Dakota
County Barnes County
GPS Coordinates (Not Mapped)--
Found On Tribal Land Unknown
Circumstances of Recovery The body of a newborn baby girl was
located in a wooded area of southwest Valley City. She was
found in leaves and underbrush, and believed to have been left
there within 24 hours of the time she was found.
Details of Recovery
Inventory of Remains All parts recovered
Condition of Remains Recognizable face
Physical Description
Hair Color Unknown
Head Hair Description: Possibly brownish red
Body Hair Description --
Facial Hair Description --
Left Eye Color Unknown
Right Eye Color Unknown
Eye Description --
Distinctive Physical Features: No Information Entered
#Post#: 4886--------------------------------------------------
Re: BARNES COUNTY BABY DOE: WF - newborn found in Valley City, N
D - April 16, 1981
By: Scorpio Date: May 2, 2020, 2:23 am
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HTML https://www.inforum.com/news/crime-and-courts/4032219-Remains-exhumed-for-DNA-testing-in-unsolved-1981-case-of-baby-discovered-in-Valley-City
Remains exhumed for DNA testing in unsolved 1981 case of baby
discovered in Valley City
Written By: Kim Hyatt and Phoenix Bauer | Jul 23rd 2019 - 4pm.
VALLEY CITY, N.D. — Baby Rebecca may finally get a last name.
The baby girl found dead on April 15, 1981, in Valley City has
remained the city's only unsolved homicide case. Rebecca, as the
community named her, would be 38 years old today.
"The child appeared to be a newborn infant with reddish hair and
wore no clothes," a Forum article from April 17, 1981, reads.
"No marks were visible on the infant's body, and police have no
clue to the child's identity."
That's still true to this day. No suspects have been named, and
no one has come forward with information about who Rebecca is.
But when authorities in Sioux Falls, S.D., used new advancements
in DNA and genealogy records to solve a similar case from
February 1981, North Dakota officials took notice. In that case,
an abandoned baby named Andrew John Doe was left in a ditch and
he died. The case was finally solved earlier this year,
resulting in the prosecution of Andrew’s mother, Theresa
Bentaas.
Valley City Police Chief Phil Hatcher said prosecution in
Rebecca’s case is on the back burner. What matters now is
determining the girl's last name and finding a family to claim
her, he said.
“What really lit a fire under us was the case in South Dakota.
It about mirrors our case,” he said. “That kind of helped us to
start making some steps on the pathway they had. Their case
helped ours.”
Hatcher grew up in Valley City and was 5 years old when Rebecca
was found. He hopes his department is the one to finally close
the case.
“It makes you wonder through all the years, all the police
officers invested so much time,” he said. “I think we have the
greatest shot right now with the DNA evidence. They didn’t have
that.”
Generations of police officers have tried solving the case over
the years, Hatcher said.
On June 28, the Barnes County state’s attorney signed an order
to exhume Rebecca’s body, which was sent to the medical
examiner’s office at the University of North Dakota on July 18.
Since then, biological samples have been taken to begin
determining Rebecca’s bloodline.
The police chief back then, Jack Ladbury, told The Forum at the
time of the tragic discovery that the baby was found in a wooded
area in southwest Valley City by Margaret Halvorson. An autopsy
determined the cause of death was asphyxiation. A Forum article
from April 18, 1981, said “the infant was found with a plastic
sheet around her head.”
Ladbury said Halvorson "first thought the child's body was a
lost doll," according to Forum archives. He believed the baby
was left in the woods within 24 hours of the time she was found
and at that time did not know "whether the child was dead when
it was abandoned." Police found the baby in leaves and
underbrush after being dispatched to the 200 block of Viking
Drive Southwest.
Hatcher said Valley City officers back then pitched in money for
burial costs, including a headstone that reads: “BABY GIRL
REBECCA, KNOWN TO GOD.” An officer even donated their own
daughter’s christening dress for Rebecca to be buried in.
Hatcher said he wonders about the mother. “What’s the story? Was
she afraid? Was she traumatized?” he said.
The baby was found near the state college campus, so Hatcher
wonders if the mother was a college student. He said the
investigation involved over 300 interviews with nurses,
neighborhood residents and students.
“There is somebody, maybe two people out there that know what
the end of this story is or what the beginning of this story
was, and we need to talk to them,” Hatcher said. "Hopefully
there’s a family out there that can claim her."
Hatcher hopes DNA results will come back before the end of
summer. Police are asking anyone with information about the case
to call them at 701-845-3110.
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