VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – A cold case heated up last summer in Valley City after investigators made the decision to exhume the body of Baby Rebecca to extract DNA from her remains.
On April 15th of 1981, Valley City police officers responded to a call of a deceased newborn female baby left in the underbrush near the VCSU campus. Investigators revealed the newborn child died from asphyxia after a live birth. The infant was named Baby Rebecca, and buried in Hillside Cemetery.
In July of 2019, the Valley City Police Department exhumed Baby Rebecca and sent her body to a lab in Texas for DNA testing to determine her parental origins. The search for her parents continues.
On August 11th of 2020, the body of Baby Rebecca was returned to her grave in a ceremony with county and city officials. Valley City Police Commissioner Mike Bishop gave a tribute to the little girl who died shortly after her birth 39 years ago.
Valley City Police Chief Phil Hatcher said it is hoped that this new DNA information obtained will help bring closure and justice to this unsolved case.
Former Valley City Police Chief Dean Ross was a Sergeant at the time of the original investigation. He thanked everyone for not giving up on this case.
Ross said he hopes someone will come forward to tell the truth about the circumstances surrounding the death of Baby Rebecca.
Chief Hatcher thanked a number of law enforcement agencies who made the exhumation possible to obtain new DNA evidence from Baby Rebecca.
The following is a eulogy to Baby Rebecca given by Mike Bishop at the grave site.
The following is a news release by Chief Hatcher issued to the media at the grave site on August 11th.
