Baby Girl Discovered Dead in a Box 35 Years Ago Finally Identified by Minnesota Police, Mother Doesn't Face Charges

A dead baby girl discovered in a box on the side of the road in Minnesota 35 years ago has now been identified — and local authorities will not be pressing charges against the child's mother.

On Thursday, Aug. 15, the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office announced that the case of a baby found on April 23, 1989, has been closed, per multiple outlets, including the Associated Press, CBS News and local news outlet KNSI.

According to the AP, the baby girl was found by a passerby on the side of a road in Santiago Township, and the case had been left unsolved for over three decades.

However, Sherburne County investigators revisited the case last year with help from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI, with a breakthrough in the case leading to them identifying the child's mother, according to CBS News.

The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for more information on Sunday, Aug. 18.

Per multiple outlets, a now-56-year-old woman, whose identity has not been shared, told authorities that she hid her pregnancy and the baby's birth from her family, and that the child was not alive -

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when she gave birth. Police say, per the AP, that the mother reacted "in a state of panic" and "did not know how to handle the situation."

CBS News, citing Sherburne County officials, said the baby's 1989 autopsy and a more recent re-examination could not determine if the baby was born alive. The outlet added that two pathologists now believe the child was likely stillborn.

Sherburne County Attorney Kathleen Heaney closed the case due to the statute of limitations to file charges having run out, according to the AP.

"While the disposal of the child’s body was not in accord with the law, the statute of limitations has run and thereby forecloses any charges," she said, per KNSI.

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Authorities have since been unable to locate where the county coroner’s office originally buried the baby in 1989. The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public's help to identify the location.

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