A 65-year-old Arizona woman remains in custody being charged in the death of a newborn girl found in Valley City nearly 45 years ago.
Barnes County Court records show Nancy Jean Trottier, now of Sun Lakes, Arizona, made her first court appearance Monday after being charged with murder in the case long known as “Baby Rebecca” who was found dead on the Valley City State University Campus.
Investigators say the baby’s body was found April 16, 1981, in a wooded area behind Viking Drive on the Valley City State campus. An autopsy concluded the infant had been born alive and died from asphyxia.
Authorities reopened the case in 2019, exhumed the child’s remains, and used DNA and genetic genealogy to identify Trottier as a suspect. Court documents say later testing indicated the baby was Trottier’s biological child, and investigators also linked her DNA to tissue recovered at the scene.
Trottier remains in custody at the Stutsman County Correctional Center in Jamestown as the case moves forward.
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