Baby ‘Rebecca’ Gets Justice After 45 Years as Mother Charged in Cold Case Killing

In 1981, a newborn baby girl was found dead near the Valley City State University campus in North Dakota. Despite an investigation into the case, police could not determine who was responsible for the baby’s death.

Now, 45 years later, the case appears close to being solved. A 65-year-old woman, Nancy Jean Trottier, has been accused of killing the baby shortly after giving birth to her. The Barnes County State’s Attorney’s Office has filed a felony murder charge against her after DNA testing showed she was the baby’s biological mother.

The woman studied at Valley City State University from 1978 to 1982. While she was still a student, the body of a newborn girl was discovered in a wooded area behind the campus in April 1981. The girl’s face had been covered with a plastic bag, while her umbilical cord was still attached.

The baby was named Rebecca by authorities. A medical examiner conducted an autopsy and determined the cause of death was acute asphyxia caused by suffocation. Police investigated the death, but it yielded no results.

As the years passed, the case went cold. Meanwhile, significant advances in DNA technology occurred. Finally, in 2019, authorities decided to revisit the case, hoping that DNA evidence could lead them to those responsible.

Rebecca’s body was exhumed in July 2019 to collect DNA and was reburied at Hillside Cemetery in 2020. At the time, former Valley City Police Chief Dean Ross expressed hope that they would eventually be able to identify those responsible for the baby’s death.

“Maybe there’s a conscience out there somewhere, too. You know, that someone might say 40 years later that maybe I did something wrong back then, and it’s been bothering me for 40 years. That’s what I always hoped, that someone would come forward,” Ross said in a statement to The Associated Press.

In August 2020, a genetic genealogy report was developed from Rebecca’s DNA. The report helped investigators identify her possible relatives, which led them to Trottier. Over a year later, in October 2021, Trottier was questioned by investigators.

Trottier became emotional during the interrogation and said, “Maybe it was me. It could be, maybe it was me.” She also agreed to provide a DNA sample to authorities. Two months later, her husband’s DNA was also collected.

After extensive analysis, investigators determined that Trottier and her husband were Rebecca’s biological parents. Additionally, a tissue found at the crime scene in 1981 contained DNA that matched Trottier’s. Trottier was then arrested in Sun Lakes, Arizona, where she resides.

Trottier was taken to the Stutsman County Correctional Center, and her bond was set at $750,000. She will be arraigned in a Barnes County court on May 21. She is being represented by defense attorney Luke Heck. The motive behind the alleged killing of the newborn remains unclear.