A Columbus County woman was arrested Tuesday nearly five decades after a newborn baby was found in a North Carolina landfill.
Cathy McKee, 69, from Whiteville, was charged with felony concealing the birth of a child in connection with a 47-year-old cold case, according to the Columbus County Sheriff's Office.
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In 1979, the body of a newborn baby girl was discovered inside a trash bag at the Columbus County landfill. Despite an investigation, the case remained unsolved.
According to the Columbus County Sheriff's Office, advances in DNA technology allowed investigators to pursue new leads in recent years and identify McKee as the infant’s mother. McKee was arrested Tuesday afternoon.
On Facebook, Sheriff Bill Rogers called the case "one of the county’s oldest and most heartbreaking unsolved cases."
The sheriff credited investigators in 1979 for collecting and preserving evidence that allowed the case to be formally reopened.
"Long before modern DNA testing existed — and before anyone could have imagined the scientific advancements that would come — they treated the case with extraordinary care," Rogers wrote. "They collected detailed evidence and preserved it meticulously, not knowing whether it would ever lead to answers, but believing that someday it might. Their professionalism, compassion, and foresight ensured that this baby girl would not be lost to time."