Cold Case Reopened with DNA Evidence | Fargo News

A decades-old cold case in North Dakota just took a chilling turn: a 65-year-old woman, Nancy Jean Trottier, now faces murder charges for the 1981 death of a newborn baby found on campus—identified locally as “Rebecca.” After DNA tech revived the case in 2019, investigators exhumed the baby’s body and used genealogy to link her to Trottier, who once attended the same college. Emotional during questioning, Trottier reportedly said, “maybe it was me,” and DNA evidence—quadrillions of times more likely to match—confirmed biological ties, plus DNA found at the crime scene. The community, burdened by 40 years of mystery, now feels closure. Trottier, not guilty, faces a $750,000 bond and GPS monitoring if released, with her next court date set for October 6. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/95b8ad5833fd4a8c