the essential
In the United States, a more than 25-year-old criminal case was solved thanks to a DNA test. Jenna Gerwatowski just wanted to know the origin of her ancestors but her DNA test revealed that she was related to the victim in this case… as well as to the murderer!
There are criminal cases which, for years, fail to be resolved and which suddenly find their outcome. The police finally managed to solve one of their “cold cases” thanks to an element that was surprising to say the least. CNN reports that Jenna Gerwatowski, an American from Michigan, unwittingly helped solve a 25-year-old case.
In 2022, inspired by one of her friends, the young woman takes a DNA test to find out the origin of her ancestors. 6 months later, she receives a call from a police detective. The latter informs her that her DNA matches that of a child murdered in 1997. Jenna then believes it to be a hoax, this criminal case, known as “Baby Garnet”, being a mystery that has fascinated her town since she was born. .
The police had actually obtained their DNA test from the company that carried it out. After some additional research, the investigators realize that the murderer is in fact… Jenna's grandmother. “I never met my grandmother. I didn’t even know her name until I was 14, 15,” explains the young woman in a TikTok video where she returns to the affair.
She did an ancestry kit and it’s putting her grandmother in prison for an unresolved cold case from 27 years ago.
The grandma had given birth at home and the baby died. Instead of calling for help she hid the body in a campground. pic.twitter.com/VRH9neCoGD
— Jelly Santos (@MrsJellySantos) https://twitter.com/MrsJellySantos/status/1859622985931309273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
According to the Michigan Attorney General, the suspect, Nancy Gerwatowski, gave birth alone in her bathtub, which caused the asphyxiation and then death of her child, due to lack of medical intervention. She would then have abandoned the corpse at the campsite and that is where the “Baby Garnet” affair would have been born. Nancy Gerwatowski faces life imprisonment.
