65-Year-Old Woman Charged in 1981 ‘Baby Rebecca’ Case After Telling Police Maybe It Was Me

A 65-year-old woman now faces charges in the decades-old “Baby Rebecca” case dating back to April 1981.

Authorities first opened the case after they discovered a deceased infant in the woods near the Valley City State College campus in North Dakota.

Investigators later named the girl Rebecca. They found her with a plastic covering over her face and her umbilical cord still attached, according to a declaration of probable cause from the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Barnes County State’s Attorney Tonya Duffy confirmed during an April 13 press conference that officials had charged Nancy Jean Trottier in connection with the case. Duffy said Trottier, who lives in Sun Lakes, Arizona, faces a felony murder charge.

Case documents show that authorities previously interviewed Trottier in 2021 in connection with the investigation. During that interview, she told officials that “maybe it was me” when referring to the case.

For decades, investigators were unable to identify a suspect or determine the infant’s identity.

Authorities gave the infant the name Rebecca in 1981 while preparing for her burial. An autopsy found that the baby showed signs of “acute asphyxia” and had died approximately 24 to 72 hours before being discovered.

During the investigation, officials sent items found near Rebecca’s body, which contained apparent biological material, to the FBI.

In 2019, the Valley City Police Department and state investigators reopened the case, using advances in DNA technology.

After exhuming Rebecca’s remains, investigators carried out extensive testing to identify possible relatives.

Trottier attended Valley City State College from 1978 to 1982 and became one of the individuals investigators questioned after tests revealed a DNA link between her and the infant, the document states.

During the investigation, Trottier agreed to provide a sample to law enforcement. Officers obtained another sample from her husband through a search warrant.

The testing determined it is 3.481 quadrillion times more likely that Rebecca is the biological child of Trottier and her husband than of an unrelated individual.

Trottier’s DNA also matched biological material found near Rebecca’s body, which officials submitted to the ND State Crime Lab in 2005. Investigators excluded her husband’s DNA from the items recovered at the scene.

According to jail records, authorities are currently holding Trottier at the Stutsman County Correctional Center. They have set her bond at $750,000. Online court records show her preliminary hearing and arraignment are scheduled for May 21.

During an April 13 court hearing, Luke Heck, Trottier’s attorney, challenged Duffy’s assertion that the case against his client was “strong.”

Lance Peterson, a longtime Valley City resident, told KVLY that he was a high school senior when the case first began.

“She’s here now, we’re at the cemetery, ” he continued. “Yeah, it’s good closure for Valley City.”