FRANKLIN, Ind. – After more than three decades, investigators in Indiana have identified “Baby Hope” and her parents.

The newborn was found stabbed to death in a trash can at Franklin’s Temple Park around 5 p.m. on April 13, 1994. Two boys who were gathering recyclables came across her remains and called police.

An autopsy found the baby died from multiple stab wounds; the coroner ruled her death a homicide. Police and the community named the unknown infant “Baby Hope” and donations ensured she received a proper burial and a headstone. Investigators preserved her DNA in hopes that it would one day provide some answers.

For 31 years, no one knew the baby’s true identity or the identities of her parents. In 2025, thanks to advances in DNA technology and the dogged pursuit of investigators, the public finally has some answers.

Police identified the baby’s mother as Cheryl D. Larson. Her husband, however, was not the baby’s father.

Testing and genealogy determined that Paul R. Shepherd was the baby’s biological father.

Franklin Police Chief Kirby Cochran and other investigators revealed the information during a news conference on Monday at Greenlawn Cemetery, where Baby Hope has been laid to rest for the last three decades.

According to police, Shepherd was unaware he was the girl’s father. He decided to name her Hope Shepherd, taking inspiration from the name the community gave his daughter. Police said Shepherd has cooperated with the investigation and submitted a DNA sample.

Cochran said the case was reopened in 2019 so detectives could go through the investigation with a fresh set of eyes. Information from public DNA databases—not private and commercial ones like 23andMe—helped them identify Baby Hope’s biological parents.

“Only data from the users who had given permission for law enforcement matching was used, ensuring respect for their privacy and consent,” said Lt. Chris Tennell, investigations commander for Franklin PD. “No private or restricted genetic database was accessed.”

While that mystery has been solved, several questions remain unanswered and may remain that way. The baby’s mother died in 2018 and could not be interviewed.

Investigators were unable to determine her level of involvement in Baby Hope’s death. For now, there are no criminal charges being brought in the case. That could change if new information comes to light.

“This is not a closed case,” Tennell said. “But we needed to share this information with the community. While we remain deeply saddened by the tragic and unjust loss of Baby Hope, we are grateful to finally achieve some degree of closure after 31 years.”

Johnson County Coroner Mike Pruitt said DNA is a significant piece of the puzzle. However, there are still things about the case investigators don’t know or understand.

“We still have open questions,” Pruitt said. “DNA is not going to answer those questions for us. If this stimulates any information, any thoughts that you can bring to law enforcement to help us bring complete closure to this case, that would be the biggest closing point.”

Tennell, Pruitt and Cochran credited the tireless work of investigators and advances in DNA and forensic technology for Monday’s significant update.

“I know these are not 100% the answers we wanted,” Cochran said. “But we are here today with some closure for the community.”

Police provided a statement on Shepherd’s behalf:

Paul Shepherd was shocked and grieved to learn that the child known as Hope was his child. Mr. Shepherd was completely unaware that a woman with whom he had a brief relationship was pregnant with his or anyone’s child. He first became aware that the child was his after voluntarily providing a DNA sample to police. The shock of this revelation was overwhelming and continues to be so still today.

Mr. Shepherd continues to struggle with the grief which has exacerbated his health conditions and from which he can find no relief. The very thought that a child fathered by him was subjected to such evil is one he cannot escape from.

Please understand the anguish this causes him and his family and the pain any discussion of the matter brings. He has no answers which shed any light on the murder of this child and no relief from the grief he endures from the unknown. Please respect the privacy of [him] and his family, it only brings them more suffering.

Statement from Paul Shepherd