What to Know
- New Jersey prosecutors and police used a new DNA technique to sketch the possible mother of an abandoned baby
- The baby was found dead at a recycling facility in 2014
- A bloody piece of clothing near the baby was believed to have come from the mother
In 2014 someone abandoned a dead baby at a New Jersey recycling facility, but using a new DNA technique, prosecutors now know what the child's mother might have looked like.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni on Wednesday released a possible sketch of the infant's mother, using what he described as a relatively new DNA phenotyping technique. (The name refers to the science of predicting physical appearance from genetic data.)
The woman in question is believed to be Latina from Central or South America, based on the DNA information, with dark hair and eyes.
"Our primary goal is to identify the mother or any type of family that might be related to this young child. We don't have any evidence of foul play," Gramiccioni said at a news conference, adding that the cause of the baby's death was still not known.
Police found the baby's remains at the facility in Farmingdale in Nov. 2014. A piece of blood-soaked clothing, which authorities thought may have come from the baby's mother, was found nearby.
A worker moving trash found the baby, whose head was not intact and whose age could not be confirmed at the time.
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Police officials reiterated Wednesday that the sketch was not a photo, and that the woman may ultimately look different in person.
"This is a predictive composite of what we believe the mother may look like," Col. Patrick Callahan, acting superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said.
Callahan said there is a $5,000 reward for information about the woman.
