young woman performs recreational DNA test, police arrest grandmother on suspicion of homicide

At first, it was just a game. Ultimately, the DNA of Jenna Gerwatowski, originally from Newberry, Michigan, allowed police to solve a 25-year-old investigation, CNN reports. Two years ago, the young woman, then aged 23, purchased a recreational DNA kit, legal and fashionable in the United States, to research the origin of her ancestors. “A friend of mine had received a recreational DNA kit for Christmas. I thought it was a scam, but I still wanted to try”she explains in a video posted on TikTok. But a year later, she received a call from the police who told her that her DNA matched that of a criminal wanted since 1997.

The culprit is her grandmother

Above all, when the officer mentions the case in question, called “baby Garnet”, Jenna Gerwatowski is surprised since it is a “cold case” (unresolved cases, in French) well known in her region. A newborn baby was found dead in the toilets of the Garnet Lake campsite, where the young woman grew up. But at the time, it was impossible to find the perpetrator of the crime.

After she believed it was a telephone scam, the police confirmed with Jenna Gerwatowski that her DNA could indeed help solve the investigation. A few additional analyzes made it possible to find the culprit, or rather the culprit: Jenna’s maternal grandmother, Nancy Gerwatowski, now 60 years old. The latter was therefore able to be heard by the Michigan court and be convicted.

A baby who died during childbirth

According to CNN, Jenna Gerwatowski’s grandmother said she gave birth alone in a bathtub but the fetus was “got stuck”. It was impossible for her to call for help, as she did not have access to a telephone at the time. After losing consciousness, she finally managed to extract the baby, who unfortunately died of asphyxiation. She then admitted to having placed the child in a closed bag at the campsite. Nancy Gerwatowski’s trial is expected to take place before the end of the year. She faces life imprisonment.

Upset by this story, Jenna Gerwatowski however specifies in her TikTok video that she did not know her grandmother well, whose identity she only learned around the age of 15, due to a family conflict dating back several years ago.