On October 10, 2005, the body of a baby girl was found in a trash can in a women's restroom at Phoenix's main airport. Police said the newborn was wrapped in newspaper and towels and stuffed into a plastic bag at the Marriott Hotel. .
Detectives immediately began investigating the death of the child, who became known as Baby Skyler. Two days after the baby was found, the coroner determined that the baby had died of suffocation and was the victim of a homicide. But leads in the case eventually dried up, and the investigation remained dormant for years.
On Tuesday, more than 18 years after the gruesome discovery in Terminal 4 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, authorities identified and arrested the baby's mother, 51-year-old Annie Anderson of Washington state, at a press conference. It was announced that. She will be charged with first-degree murder in the child's death.
Anderson was taken into custody in Washington on Tuesday and is awaiting extradition to Maricopa County, Arizona, Phoenix Police Department Lt. James Hester said at a news conference.
Among the few early clues police had was a plastic bag containing the infant's body. That led detectives to search a Marriott hotel in the Phoenix area, Lt. Hester said. But those and other clues were unsuccessful.
And in 2019, Phoenix police partnered with the FBI to investigate the mystery of baby Schuyler using genetic genealogy, a new tool for solving cold cases, Lt. Hester said.
Dan Horan, supervisory special agent at the FBI's field office in Phoenix, said at a news conference that both agencies use a process known as investigative genetic genealogy, using existing DNA evidence from unknown individuals. , said they are trying to find the family on that basis. A publicly available genealogy database.
In doing so, both agencies were able to identify potential relatives of Baby Schuyler. Investigator Horan said authorities did not identify the relatives, but they agreed to share their DNA samples with authorities for one-time use.
Investigators traveled to Washington state in January 2022 to execute a search warrant and interview Anderson, authorities said. Lt. Hester said Anderson identified herself as Baby Schuyler's mother and explained to police what happened.
“We have a deceased child, we have a mother who has been identified, and we have a statement from her,” Lt. Hester said.
Authorities declined to release details of Anderson's account. After investigating, authorities learned that Ms. Anderson had traveled to Phoenix in October 2005 for work at a real estate boot camp, and that Lieutenant Hester's child was probably not born at the airport.
It was unclear Tuesday whether Anderson has an attorney.
Lt. Hester said during the investigation authorities were also able to identify the baby's father, who was found to have no “criminal liability.” Authorities did not release the father's name.
Sergeant Rob Scherer of the Phoenix Police Department said Tuesday that the investigation “impacted many people at many different levels within and outside of our department” and “will remain in the hearts of many of the officers involved.” Stated.
