Police have managed to finally crack a case that has remained a mystery for over two decades with the help of new technology.
When cases go cold, there is often little hope of ever finding out the truth of what happened.
This was true for one tragic scenario when a man who was collecting cans from the side of the road in Texas made a gruesome discovery.
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He stumbled upon a dead newborn baby wrapped in a jacket.
Emergency services were alerted to the scene where they found that the infant’s umbilical cord was still attached.
The baby became known as Angel Baby Doe and investigators began a frantic search for the mother.
In a recent Facebook post, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office recalled: “It was evident that Angel Baby Doe, the name she has been given, had been born alive that day, outside of a medical facility.
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“Due to the nature of the child’s discovery, foul play has been determined.”
This was partly due to the fact that investigators noticed that the baby’s mother had failed to clamp her umbilical cord so Angel Baby Doe had bled to death.
The Sheriff’s Office went on to say: “The Sheriff’s office has worked tirelessly… to find out the identity of this child.
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“Various leads and tips have come in during those years, yet none have revealed her identity. It is clear that this case remains very personal for all involved.”
Just when all hope seemed lost and the case had become very cold over the last two decades - there was a breakthrough in DNA technology.
Explaining how the new tech works, the Sheriff’s Office continued: “In June 2021, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office submitted forensic evidence to Othram [a private DNA laboratory]… in hopes that advanced DNA testing could help to identify the child.
“Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA profile for the infant.”
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Using the DNA profile, police began looking for potential relatives of the infant which led them to Shelby Stotts.
Stotts was working as a paraprofessional at Cleburne High School in nearby Cleburne, Texas, at the time of the baby’s death.
She has now been charged with second-degree manslaughter for “recklessly causing the death of her newborn daughter by leaving the baby unattended on the side of the road, failing to seek prompt medical care after giving birth, and failing to clamp the baby’s umbilical cord which caused the child to bleed to death.”
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The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office celebrated finally getting to the bottom of the mystery by writing: “COLD CASE OF BABY DOE… SOLVED!”