The Baby Garnet Case Might Have Been Solved Thanks to a Home DNA Testing Kit

In 2018, genetic genealogy was used to help solve a series of cold cases. Joseph DeAngelo, a man who would later be known as the Golden State Killer, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of murder and sexual assault after DNA he left at a crime scene was traced using his family tree. Authorities plugged his information into a public genealogy database, which eventually led them to DeAngelo. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Many questions regarding privacy have arisen in reference to the legality of using a public genealogy website to solve a crime when people submitted their DNA for personal reasons. While some states are pushing to restrict police searches of these databases, none have deemed it unconstitutional. Because of this, another murder has potentially been solved using this tactic. Here's what we know about the Baby Garnet case and the woman who might end up in prison.

In June 1997, an employee at the Garnet Lake campground was emptying out the waste in a septic tank when they discovered the body of an infant, per WDIV. It was later determined the deceased baby was close to gestational age, meaning it had recently been born and was roughly 36-42 weeks. The Mackinac County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police investigated the suspicious death through the fall of 1997 but without any witnesses, they had no leads. The decedent was called Baby Garnet.

The case was reopened 20 years later in 2017 when a Michigan State Police Detective Sargent "initiated familial genetic genealogical tracing with the assistance of a private laboratory and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, who by this time possessed skeletal remains of Baby Garnet," per the Michigan Department of Attorney General. In 2020, a lab received the remains and two years later they built a profile that hit on a specific familial lineage. That's when they zeroed in on Nancy Ann Gerwatowski.

Gerwatowski was living in Pinedale, Wy. when law enforcement showed up at her door in 2022. The then-58-year-old was charged with one count each of Open Murder, Involuntary Manslaughter, and Concealing the Death of an Individual. If convicted of Open Murder, she could get a life sentence.

The state believes Gerwatowski gave birth at her home in Newberry, Mich., at which time Baby Garnet died from asphyxiation. They claim this was a preventable death had Gerwatowski sought medical help. She then allegedly drove 20 miles to the campground, where Gerwatowski disposed of the body. Her next court date is scheduled for Dec. 12, 2024.

In November 2024, a woman who goes by @__jennarose__ on TikTok shared a video where she claims to be the granddaughter of Nancy Ann Gerwatowski. Apparently she's never met her grandmother and had never even heard her name until she was 14 or 15 years old. Jenna explains that this was her mother's decision, and she must have her reasons. At this point Jenna reveals that she submitted her DNA to a public genealogy website two years prior, which is how Gerwatowski was found.

Jenna was focused on how cool and fun the genealogy results were until she got a call from a detective a year later. He informed her that he had reopened the Baby Garnet case, and her DNA was a "direct match to the victim." The detective asked Jenna if he could connect her to a woman in Chicago who helps run a worldwide genealogy database. He was hoping Jenna would give them permission to upload her DNA so they could "broaden the search." After saying yes, Jenna told her mother.

Coincidentally, Jenna's uncle had just narrowly avoided being the victim of a scam so her mother was quite cautious about the whole DNA thing. When the woman from Chicago called Jenna, she asked for the password to the original genealogy website in order to upload the information to the larger database. Already suspicious, Jenna hung up the phone.

A week later, Jenna's mom called her at work and told her to come home immediately. When she got there, Jenna was met by her cousin who knew all about the mysterious Chicago phone call. Evidently, state police had gone to Jenna's cousin's house and she had spent a great deal of time speaking with them. "It's not a scam," she told Jenna.

It turns out Jenna was a distant relative but when her mother willingly submitted DNA, police discovered she was a direct relative. "The only person it could have been is my mom's mother," said Jenna. And this is how Jenna Rose learned that she was the granddaughter of an accused murderer.