On April 29, 1999, the body of a female baby was found in a plastic grocery bag hanging on a fence behind the garage of an unoccupied house in Warren.

The baby was never identified and to this day, the case remains unsolved. She is buried at Clinton Grove Cemetery in Clinton Township as “Baby Joan Doe” but Jim Twardesky, Warren police detective, is hopeful DNA science that was not available in 1999 will lead to closure in this 23-year-old cold case.

“DNA science has come a long way since 1999,” said Twardesky. “Back then, they could only do a blood draw and a paternity test. Over the years we have done a handful of those, but have never been able to identify Baby Joan’s parents.”

Baby Joan was found behind a garage in the 5000 block of Lyon Circle South in Warren by Oak Park resident Daniel McCarty who owned the home and told police he was scheduled to close on the sale of it the following day and had come to gather trash at the house when he found the baby in the bag.

The full-term baby weighed five pounds, had black hair, appeared to be Caucasian and had its umbilical cord still attached. At the time, the Macomb County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide and determined the baby had died from asphyxiation and had been deceased for five days.

“We believe the mother to be a juvenile based on some of the evidence found at the scene and because a younger person would be more likely to take this route,” said Twardesky. “We would like to identify the mother or father; the biggest thing is to put a name on the child.”