DNA profile indicted in 'Baby Hope' investigation of newborn abandoned in Wheaton

WHEATON, Ill. (WLS) -- The DuPage County state's attorney's office has indicted the DNA profile of a person suspected in the death three years ago of an infant.

In August 2016, a landscaper found a newborn's body in a backpack abandoned along a private drive in unincorporated Wheaton.

That unidentified little girl became known as "Baby Hope."

The indictment Monday alleges the person charged, identified as Jane Doe, failed to report the death or disappearance of a child.

DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said the indictment was prompted in part by the three-year statute of limitations on filing charges in the case.

Berlin said his office has previously indicted profiles in burglary and sex assault cases where investigators had a DNA sample but did not know the identity of the perpetrator.

Years ago a private genetics lab in Virginia used phenotype testing on the unidentified DNA evidence collected at the crime scene.

New evidence released in search for parents of newborn abandoned in Wheaton

Suburban investigators said Thursday they may be one step closer to the identifying the parents of the newborn known as "Baby Hope".

"We went to this new company that's doing this new technology that looks at different parts of the DNA that can give phenotypic information like hair color, eye color, skin color, ethnicity," said Vanessa Martinucci, DuPage County Sheriff's Crime Lab in 2016.

Investigators said the parents of the child are of Latino or Hispanic ancestry. Authorities showed images of what the child's father and mother might look like at ages 15 and 25.

Earlier in the investigation, authorities released images of a toilet cover and bathroom rug the baby was found wrapped in.

Baby Hope was buried Sept. 22, 2016, at St. Michael Cemetery in Wheaton, surrounded by officers and strangers.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.