(NewsReady.com) – More than 30 years ago, a Mississippi farmer came across something unbelievable. In 1992, the man was behind a pizza place in Picayune looking for old dough for his pigs, when he found a baby inside a trash bag. Law enforcement now believes they have solved the case.
On March 9, the Louisiana State Police (LSP) announced the arrest of 50-year-old Andrew Carriere and 50-year-old Inga Johansen Carriere in Galliano and Avondale, respectively. According to the press release, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations (MBI) reached out to Louisiana authorities to ask for assistance in the cold case. The Picayune Police Department and the MBI reopened the case in August 2021 and used DNA and fingerprints to identify the Carrieres as the parents of the premature infant.
LSP investigators ultimately obtained arrest warrants for the Carrieres. They are being charged with first-degree murder for allegedly suffocating the infant.
Picayune Det. Rhonda Johnson told WDSU that she reopened the case after she found evidence while working on a different cold case. She said that she noticed a box labeled “baby doe” and asked the department’s evidence technician, Theresa Milar, about the case. The tech explained what happened, and Johnson said, “We’ll have to work on that one next.”
According to the detective, the police department had preserved the evidence in the case really well, allowing them to collect DNA, which was then sent off to a Texas lab. Ultimately, they were able to identify the parents. MBI Agent Christa Groom said the case is a good example of how police can solve cases when they “take the time at the crime [scene] to collect everything the right way.”
The death of the child haunted the community. Residents actually paid for the baby’s funeral, burial, and grave marker. The marker read “Heaven’s Angel,” and Johnson said she believes “that name’s appropriate.”
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