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Over 40 years after a newborn girl was tragically found suffocated and abandoned at a North Dakota college, recent advancements in DNA technology have resulted in a murder charge against a 65-year-old woman from Arizona.
Nancy Jean Trottier, residing in Sun Lakes, Arizona, made a court appearance in Barnes County. Investigators were able to connect her to the infant, known for years only as “Rebecca,” through DNA evidence, as detailed by Valley News Live in North Dakota.
The infant’s body was discovered on April 16, 1981, in a wooded section behind a dormitory at Valley City State College. The baby still had her umbilical cord attached, and her face was covered with a plastic material.
An autopsy revealed that the infant had been born alive approximately three days prior to being found, and her cause of death was identified as acute asphyxia, indicating suffocation, according to the report.
Nancy Jean Trottier, now 65, faces a murder charge in the decades-old cold case involving the death of a newborn discovered on a North Dakota college campus.
For years, investigators had no suspect and no identity for the child. Police gave the baby the name “Rebecca” before she was buried.
The case was reopened in 2019 after advances in DNA technology. Authorities exhumed the child’s remains and used genetic genealogy to track down possible relatives.
Valley City State College became Valley City State University in 1987, about five years after Trottier attended the school. (Google Maps)
The investigation eventually led to Trottier, who attended the college from 1978 to 1982.
During a 2021 interview, Trottier reportedly became emotional and told investigators, “maybe it was me” and “It could be, maybe it was me,” according to court documents obtained by Valley News Live and KVLY-TV.
DNA results returned in 2023 provided a breakthrough.
Nancy Jean Trottier is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary hearing and arraignment on May 21. (Stutsman County Correctional Center)
Investigators said it is 3.481 quadrillion times more likely that Trottier and her husband are the biological parents of the infant than unrelated individuals, the outlets reported. DNA consistent with Trottier was also found on tissue paper recovered at the scene.
Trottier now faces a Class AA felony murder charge. She was being held on $750,000 bond, according to online court records.
She is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary hearing and arraignment on May 21.
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