WINONA, Minn. — The arrest of a well-known Winona resident in the 2011 cold case death of a newborn baby found floating in the Mississippi River on Sept. 5, 2011, stunned those who knew her — and those following the case.
Jennifer Baechle, 43, was arrested in April in connection with the death of the days-old baby, referred to by the community as “Baby Angel.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The arrest came after a DNA match revealed she is the biological mother. Baechle is facing two counts of manslaughter.
The most recent episode of The Vault podcast takes listeners behind the scenes of this story, with insight from Rochester Post Bulletin reporter John Molseed, who has been covering the Baby Angel case.
Molseed was the first to report on a filed by the Winona County Sheriff’s Office requesting a saliva sample from Baechle, a well-known local resident investigators believed was the mother of the newborn girl.
The search warrant application cited Firebird Forensics Group, a forensic genetic genealogy organization that partners with law enforcement agencies to crack cold cases.
Through the use of publicly available DNA databases and genealogy, investigators were able to match Baby Angel’s DNA with family members.
Eventually, the trail led to Baechle.
Baechle’s arrest has left the community stunned. In the wake of Baby Angel’s discovery, 150 people attended a formal funeral for the unnamed baby girl. Donations poured in, allowing community members to purchase a gravestone.
ADVERTISEMENT
Since then, Baby Angel has not been forgotten or set aside. Retired Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand is just one individual who has taken care of the gravesite, facilitating donations for the flowers he regularly delivers to her grave.
This episode of The Vault podcast features Brand’s thoughts in the wake of Baechle’s arrest, a woman who had been hiding in plain sight for more than a decade.
Molseed’s reporting on the story also sheds light on how community members are dealing with the revelation that a once-trusted community member is the mother of Baby Angel.
For more than a decade, Baechle kept the secret that the entire town desperately wanted to know.
Baechle is currently out on a $200,000 bond. Her next court appearance is scheduled for July 7.
You can listen to the nearly 15-minute “Cold Case Arrest: The Baby Angel Story” episode on all major podcast platforms.