Update shows DNA testing may be possible in 1971 infant murder
Published 12:10 am Tuesday, February 20, 2024
- A photo from the 1971 case files shows the location where an infant's body was found after being murdered. The body was found in a trash dump located in an old quarry.
ROWAN COUNTY — Investigators have received multiple updates in Rowan County’s oldest unsolved murder, including the revelation that DNA evidence is available.
A release from the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office states that detectives have received multiple updates providing new information in the case. The largest update is that hair evidence that was retained by the sheriff’s office at the time still contains DNA, which will allow for further testing to be done that could identify the infant.
Detectives initially reopened the case and asked the public for help in December of 2023, when a deputy found the old case file detailing the murder of an unnamed infant in 1971. That infant was found dead in a trash dumping site, located in an abandoned quarry at 1015 Dunns Mountain Road, where it had suffered a stab wound to the head, the release states. A Salisbury Post story from that year stated that the sheriff’s office believed that the child had been born alive and then murdered.
The child was listed on the death certificate only as “unknown baby girl found in trash dump.” Investigators in the sheriff’s office have given the child the name “Baby Eva,” the release states, in an effort to put a name to the case.
“The name was derived from the Christian Bible’s Eve, which in Hebrew means “life.” With the name, the sheriff hopes to give her back at least symbolically what was tragically taken away from her shortly after birth,” the release states.
Agents with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation’s Cold Case Investigation Team are assisting the sheriff’s office. The SBI is also funding the DNA testing, which is being performed by Astrea Forensics, a private lab in California that specializes in testing hair, according to the release.
The release also states that detectives have not been successful in locating anyone in the community with specific details about the case. Detectives were able to identify the man who found the body as Arthur Joe Trexler, who died at the age of 76 in 1984.
Anyone with information that could aid in the investigation is asked to contact Lt. Ryan Barkley at 704-216-8711.
