DNAprint Genomics (DNAG)

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The content of this one might be upsetting to some people as it involves murdered babies:

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic/022004BABYBODY_F20.html

February 20, 2004

Investigators seek mother of newborn who washed ashore
By JOHN BRAND Staff Writer, [phone]

VENTNOR - It is a strange dichotomy that some would-be mothers do all that is humanly possible to have a baby, and others throw their babies' lives away.

Although Atlantic County prosecutors have not arrested anyone responsible for the death of a newborn baby girl whose body washed ashore in Ventnor last month, a portion of their investigation has been devoted to finding the baby's mother, who has not come forward.

"The identity of the mother would be important," Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz said. "We have not identified the mother. We're attempting to find out who the mother is."

Prosecutors are investigating other clues in hopes of finding the baby's killer, but have not made any arrests at this point.

"No one has been taken into custody and no one has been charged with this crime," Blitz said.

Stories of babies at the center of a homicide investigation first hit mainstream media in 1996.

At that time, two college freshmen, Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson, delivered their baby in a motel near the University of Delaware, killed it and left it in a nearby Dumpster.

The following year, mothers in Woodbine and Atlantic City left their newborns in toilets.

Also in 1997, local girl Melissa Drexler, of the Forked River section of Lacey Township, gave birth to a baby at her high school prom, put it in a bag and left it in the trash.

Not much has changed in seven years.

On Jan. 17, a passer-by on a Ventnor beach, near Suffolk Avenue, discovered a dead newborn baby girl.

The baby was strangled with some type of ligature - a chord or wire - Blitz said, then she was stuffed into a yellow, nylon laundry bag before being put into the ocean.

Blitz hopes the results of DNA tests, expected some time next week, will help determine the baby's race and contribute a piece to the puzzle.

"I don't know how conclusive the (DNA) tests will be," Blitz said.

Prosecutors are also trying to determine if the origin of the yellow, nylon bag can be traced to a local source, Blitz said.

Although he would not comment on what obstacles investigators face in determining the identity of the baby's killer, Blitz urged the public to get involved in the investigation.

"Anyone who has any information is urged to call the Prosecutor's Office or Crime Stoppers," he said.

The prosecutor's Major Crimes Unit can be reached at [phone]. Anonymous calls can be made to Crime Stoppers at (800) 658-TIPS (8477).

To e-mail John Brand at The Press:

[e-mail]