The Benton County Sheriff’s Office is taking a new step in a nearly 50-year-old cold case involving an unidentified newborn whose body was discovered in a wooded area of Benton County in 1977.
On April 16, 1977, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office responded to an area approximately one-quarter mile northeast of the junction of County Roads 201 and 70 after a group of teenagers playing in the wooded area discovered the body of a small child.
Investigators determined the remains appeared to be those of a newborn infant. A plastic bag and placenta were located near the body. Despite an appeal to the public and an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office, the identity of the infant and the child’s parents remained unknown.
The newborn was subsequently known as “Baby Boy Doe” and was buried at Bentonville Cemetery.
Nearly five decades later, advances in forensic DNA technology have created new opportunities to identify individuals in cases that were once considered unlikely to be solved.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office has previously seen the potential of these advances firsthand. In 2019, the Sheriff’s Office conducted an exhumation at Bentonville Cemetery involving an unidentified homicide victim from 1981. Following advanced DNA testing, the victim was identified as Fred James Grow. The homicide investigation remains active.
Building on the possibilities presented by modern DNA technology, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office will soon conduct an exhumation of Baby John Doe. Investigators hope to obtain DNA evidence that may ultimately lead to the identification of the infant and, most importantly, the parents and family connected to this child.
“This case has remained unresolved for nearly 50 years, but advances in DNA technology give us an opportunity that investigators in 1977 simply did not have,” said Lieutenant. Jenkins. “Our goal is to give this child an identity and provide answers to a case that has remained a mystery for generations.”
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office recognizes that information from the public may be critical to the investigation. Anyone who may have information regarding the discovery of the newborn in 1977, the circumstances surrounding the case, or individuals who may have knowledge of the infant’s identity is encouraged to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Lieutenant Hunter Petray at 479-271-1008.
Republished courtesy of Benton County Sheriff’s Office