Winona's Baby Angel: Woman charged with manslaughter infant's 2011 death

WINONA, Minn. (FOX 9) - A woman is charged with two counts of manslaughter for the death of a baby found on the Mississippi River in 2011.

Investigators and locals dubbed the infant "Baby Angel" after the case remained unsolved for years.  

READ MORE: Winona's Baby Angel cold case could have possible DNA match

Raw footage of the news conference can be viewed above.

Arrest in Winona Baby Angel case

Timeline:

The Winona County Sheriff's Office announced an arrest in connection with the case on Thursday. 

DNA technology provided by a nonprofit led investigators to a woman believed to be the baby's biological mother, according to the criminal complaint.

The nonprofit, Firebird Forensics Group, then used DNA samples from the baby in an effort to find possible relatives with the help of voluntary DNA samples gathered by law enforcement. 

That information led to a possible match between a mother and the baby. In May 2023, the DNA led investigators to Jennifer Nichole Baechle, 43, of Winona. 

The criminal complaint that Winona County deputies then requested a DNA sample from Baechle, who then retained a lawyer.  

Deputies then got samples of Baechle's DNA by going through her trash and sent the samples to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Investigators then determined the infant found in 2011 "could be the biological child" of Baechle, the complaint states. 

Winona County deputies then served a search warrant to collect Baechle's DNA on March 19, 2024. Charging documents state the lab results showed the baby's genetic results are "570,000 times more likely to occur in a biological child" of Baechle than someone unrelated to Baechle. 

The complaint states the lab results show "very strong evidence to support" a biological mother-daughter relationship between Baechle and Baby Angel.

Firebird Forensics previously helped the FBI catch Joseph DeAngelo, who was otherwise known as the Golden State Killer. 

Timeline:

The baby's body was found by boaters around 2:20 p.m. on Sept. 5, 2011, on the Mississippi River about seven miles south of the City of Winona. 

The boaters found the baby's body in a bag with a pendant, incense and several angel figures, charging documents say.

The angel figurines led to the child being called "Baby Angel" by law enforcement.

During an autopsy, the medical examiner found there were "several fractures on the front and side of the infant's skull," according to the complaint. A 2024 updated autopsy found the "Normally developed term female infant sustained injuries of the head while alive."

There was also no evidence of medical intervention, as the baby had a four-inch section of the umbilical cord attached.

Family interviewed by law enforcement say they did not have personal contact with Baechle in 2011 and that she was living in a van at the time in Winona.

The criminal complaint states they "immediately recognized the blue pendant" as belonging to Baechle. They also said that she collected angels and that she got an angel ornament every Christmas. 

What they're saying:

Both state and local authorities spoke during a news conference on Thursday.

Winona County Sheriff Ron Ganrude spoke about the closure he hopes this brings to the community. 

"For more than 13 years, Baby Angel's tragic death has weighed heavily on the Winona community," Sheriff Ganrude said. "She deserved better than a watery grave. She deserved more than a life cut short. And while her birth mother remained hidden, this community wrapped its arms around this little girl." 

Winona County Prosecutor Karen Sonneman said "I began my service as county attorney in January of 2011. So, I have had the opportunity from the beginning of this case to observe investigators from both the Winona County Sheriff's Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension work tenaciously for over 13 years to gather the sufficient evidence for my office to file this criminal complaint this morning."