Cold crime case cracked after 45 years: Woman arrested in 1981 newborn killing as DNA blows the Lid off mystery after decades

A shocking case of alleged murder that had been in cold storage came back to haunt a woman after more than four decades. The suspect, identified as Nancy Jean Trottier, has been arrested 45 years after her newborn baby was found dead on a college campus in North Dakota, according to online records and multiple reports.

The Barnes County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a Class AA felony murder charge against the 65-year-old woman on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, according to online jail records reviewed by PEOPLE.

Trottier, who was a student at Valley City State University from 1978 to 1982, is accused of murdering her newborn baby, whose body was found in April 1981 in a wooded area behind 265 Viking Drive on the Valley City State College campus in Valley City with a plastic bag over her face and her umbilical cord still attached, KVLY and Valley News Live reported.


At the time, the infant was unidentified, and the scene was processed by the Valley City Police Department and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. In an autopsy report, it was discovered that the infant, who was dubbed "Rebecca" by authorities, was alive at birth and died from acute asphyxia, consistent with suffocation, news outlets reported, citing police.

DNA advances revive decades-old case

The case grabbed attention after decades due to advances in DNA technology, which led to the case being reopened and the baby's body being exhumed in July 2019, KVLY, Valley News Live, and KX News reported.

After DNA was extracted from the baby’s remains and sent to third-party labs for familial and genealogical analysis, investigators reburied the infant and, by August 2020, received a genetic genealogy report pointing to possible relatives of the newborn—an investigation that ultimately led them to Nancy Jean Trottier.

In a 2021 interview, Trottier allegedly told investigators, “Maybe it was me" and “It could be maybe it was me," according to an affidavit reviewed by the outlets. Trottier agreed to provide a DNA sample, while her husband’s sample was collected in December 2021.

A DNA analysis returned in June 2023 found it was 3.481 quadrillion times more likely that the baby is the biological child of Trottier and her husband than of an unrelated individual, the outlets reported, and the affidavit stated.

The forensic report also indicated that the DNA consistent with Trottier’s profile was also found on tissue paper recovered from the scene in 1981, FOX10 reported. Trottier, who is from Arizona, is being held at the Stutsman County Correctional Center, PEOPLE reported, citing jail records.

Trottier appeared in court on April 13, 2026 (Monday). During the hearing, her attorney, Luke Heck, disputed Barnes County State's Attorney Tonya Duffy's claim that the case against her is "strong," PEOPLE reported, citing Inforum. A preliminary hearing and Trottier's arraignment have been scheduled for May 21 in Barnes County, according to online court records.