Sun Lakes woman charged with murder in 1981 death of newborn found on college campus

PHOENIX — A 65-year-old Arizona woman has been charged with murder in the death of a newborn girl whose body was found 45 years ago on the campus of what was then Valley City State College, authorities said Monday.

Nancy Trottier, of Sun Lakes, Arizona, faces a felony murder charge in North Dakota in connection with the death of a child.

She faces life in prison if convicted.

Barnes County State’s Attorney Tonya Duffy and North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley announced the charge at a press conference Monday at the Regional Technology Center in Valley City.

“It’s been a long road to justice for Baby Rebecca, and that road continues on forward,” Wrigley said, according to Valley News Live in Fargo, North Dakota.

The 45-year search for justice for baby Rebecca

On April 16, 1981, an unidentified deceased female infant’s body was discovered in a wooded area of the Valley City State College campus. Valley City Police Department (VCPD) and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NDBCI) led the investigation.

Investigators found the infant’s body had a plastic covering over the face and the umbilical cord still attached. Officers located and collected items near the body that contained apparent biological material, including tissue paper.

An autopsy concluded that the infant was suffocated after a live birth.

The case went cold for decades.

Following the initial discovery of the body, and over the next several decades, law enforcement followed up on numerous leads but were unable to identify a suspect or identify the deceased infant. Valley City police named the infant “Rebecca” when she was buried.

New DNA technology gives detectives a break in the case

In 2019, as DNA technology advanced, law enforcement with the VCPD and the NDBCI started reviewing cold cases.

Baby Rebecca’s body was exhumed and sent to a third-party lab that was able to extract DNA and develop a profile from the remains. The profile was then sent to another lab for genealogical DNA analysis.

That DNA led detectives to Trottier.

During an October 2021 interview, investigators learned that Trottier attended Valley City State College from 1978 to 1982. According to a probable cause statement, Trottier agreed to the DNA test, but asked that officers wait to contact her siblings until her DNA results were returned.

On Dec. 7, 2021, a DNA sample was collected from Trottier’s husband through a search warrant. Both samples were submitted to the North Dakota State Crime Lab.

On June 28, 2023, Valley City police and state investigators received a final forensic report concluding it is 3.481 quadrillion times more likely that Rebecca was the biological child of Trottier and her husband than of an unrelated individual.

Trottier was arrested April 7 and made her initial appearance Monday in Barnes County court.

She is being held at the Stutsman County Correctional Center on $750,000 bond and will have a preliminary hearing on May 21.

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