A mother has been arrested three decades after her newborn son’s remains were found in a grocery bag dumped on the side of a road.
Pamela Ferreyra, 60, is accused of killing her son and stuffing his remains in a bag left on Garin Road in the Las Lomas area of California.
Baby Garin’s remains were found by a man collecting aluminum cans.
‘He opened up that paper bag and discovered something that nobody ever wants to find,’ said deputy spokesperson Andy Rosas.
‘When the person looked inside, they discovered the deceased baby boy’s body.’
Baby Garin is believed to have died sometime from November 1, 1994, to December 3, 1994. His cause of death could not be determined from his autopsy, but he was definitely born alive.
DNA technology advances aided detectives in making a breakthrough in the case. They conducted follow-up interviews and obtained DNA samples that led to Ferreyra.
‘Some of them seem to think that they have gotten away with it and are very surprised. Some of them have been waiting for that knock on the door for decades,’ said Assistant District Attorney Matt L’Heureux.
‘I couldn’t tell you which situation this falls under, but we’re happy that this day has come and that we’re able to do something about this situation that happened 30 years ago.’
Ferreyra was arrested without incident on Thursday morning in her home in Watsonville.
She has been charged with one count of murder and was arraigned in court on Friday. She is being held at Monterey County Jail on a $1million bail.
Ferreyra is not the only suspect to be taken into custody recently thanks to DNA testing advances.
In April, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office in Texas and the DNA Doe Project identified skeletal remains on a highway recovered 40 years prior to belong to a mother whose death had been a cold case.
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