Woman pleads not guilty to felony charges 5 years after infant's remains found in north suburbs

RIVERWOODS, Ill. (WLS) -- A woman accused of hiding her newborn baby's remains over five years ago in a wooded area in north suburban Riverwoods pleaded not guilty to felony charges Thursday.

Natalie Schram now lives in Washington state, where she was arrested earlier this month, police said.

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Riverwoods police say Schram gave birth to the baby in May 2020 and then dumped the baby's body in a wooded area in the 1800 block of Robinwood Lane.

Police have been investigating the case for more than five and a half years after a Lake County water department crew discovered the remains of the newborn near a home in a residential area of town.

Schram left court Thursday with her husband and attorney without comment. She was back in Lake County after her arrest in Washington state.

Authorities say she is the mother of a newborn whose remains were discovered in a suitcase in this neighborhood behind a home where her family lived.

Police say DNA analysis by the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia helped lead them to Schram.

"With a profile of the baby, then we were able to work on trying to find the parent of the baby," Riverwoods Police Detective David Martinovich said.

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Police say they are continuing to investigate as they still have a lot of unanswered questions. They say while the remains found were those of a newborn, it's unclear how long they had been there.

"It could have been immediate or it could have been back several years prior to that," Det. Martinovich said.

Detective Martinovich says he travelled to Bellingham, Washington last week to work with local police, who arrested Schram. She waived extradition and was released on $250,000 bond by authorities there.

Schram is now facing several felony charges, including two counts of Concealment of Death, Abuse of a Corpse and Failure to Report the Death or Disappearance of a Child Under 13 Years of Age. Prosecutors say it's also possible more suspects could be involved and more charges could be filed.

"It never went cold. I've been continuously following forensic leads for five and a half years," Det. Martinovich said.

The judge is allowing Schram to return to her home in Washington, but she must be back in Illinois for her next court appearance in February.