Sherburne County investigators and the County Attorney’s Office have closed the case without filing charges against a woman who left her newborn baby in a box by the roadside in Santiago Township in 1989.

The baby girl was discovered deceased on April 23, 1989, by a passerby who had noticed the box days earlier. Despite initial investigative efforts, authorities were unable to determine the baby’s identity or the parents. The case was unsolved for decades. However, in 2023 Sherburne County investigators revisited the case with new investigative techniques and assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI.

An extensive effort by the Criminal Investigative Division of the Sheriff’s Office ultimately led to a breakthrough DNA match identifying the mother as Carey Ann Kruger, 56. During interviews, Kruger admitted to concealing her pregnancy and the birth from her family. She said that the baby was not alive at birth, and in a state of panic she did not know how to handle the situation.

The original autopsy in 1989, along with a re-examination in late 2023, could not definitively determine whether the baby was born alive. However, two pathologists believed that the infant likely was stillborn.

Sherburne County Attorney Kathleen Heaney reviewed the case file and earlier this month closed the case.

“While the disposal of the child’s body was not in accord with law, the statute of limitations has run and thereby forecloses any charges,” Heaney wrote in her memo closing the case.

After the autopsy, the baby’s body was released to the Sherburne County Coroner’s Office, which arranged a burial. Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office has made extensive efforts to locate the records showing where the child was buried, but those efforts have been unsuccessful.

If anyone has information about where the baby is buried, please contact the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office at (763) 765-3500.