RED WING, Minn. — Investigators are crediting tenacity and technology with the arrest of a woman accused of abandoning two infants found dead years ago.
Jennifer Matter is charged with second-degree murder for the death of an infant found on the shore of Lake Pepin in 2003, The Associated Press reported. That child, a newborn boy, was found with its umbilical cord wrapped around its body at the water’s edge.
Investigators said that DNA also revealed Matter is the mother of a dead infant girl found wrapped in a towel in 1999 in the Mississippi River, though charges have not been filed in that case, The Star-Tribune reported.
“For over 20 years, the deaths of these innocent babies have haunted our community and the countless law enforcement officers who have worked tirelessly on this case,” Goodhue County Sheriff Marty Kelly said at a news conference.
Last year, investigators were able to identify the father of the infant found in 1999 and then identified Matter as a person of interest, WCCO reported. When investigators talked to her and took a sample of her DNA, she denied knowing anything about either baby, WCCO reported.
In a criminal complaint obtained by the AP, detectives said Matter admitted to leaving the baby in 2003 wrapped in a towel and said that she hoped someone nearby would find it alive. “When asked to explain what was going on in her life in 1999, she said that she was in a bad mental state. She stated that she was in and out of jail, drinking too much, doing a lot of stupid things, and had experienced chaotic life circumstances for a long time,” the complaint said, according to the AP.
The complaint also said that Matter told investigators that she didn’t call 911, but did hope that someone would find the baby, KARE reported. She allegedly admitted to having no prenatal care and had no plans to leave the infant someplace safe.
An autopsy of the boy born in 2003 revealed he was likely born alive but had blunt force head injuries, The Star-Tribune reported. The coroner said it was possible that the injuries were sustained during the birthing process.
Matter told investigators that the infant girl born in 1999 was not breathing at birth, the AP reported.
In March 2007, a third infant was found in the Mississippi River, but DNA testing revealed that the newborn girl was not related to the other two babies, officials told the AP.
If convicted, Matter faces up to 40 years in prison, WCCO reported.
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