A child’s remains were identified after 35 years in Georgia, with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend arrested Monday, NBC News reported.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced the breakthrough in the long-unsolved case during a Monday news conference. The body of a child — known until recently only as “Baby Jane Doe” — was discovered on Dec. 21, 1988, in Millwood, Ware County, encased in concrete inside an old TV cabinet at an illegal dumping site. The investigators have now identified that the remains were those of a 5-year-old Kenyatta “KeKe” Odom, according to NBC News.
Evelyn Odom, 56, also known as Zmecca Luciana, and Ulyster Sanders, 61, both from Albany, Georgia, were arrested on Nov. 9 without incident. They face charges of felony murder, child cruelty in the first degree, aggravated battery, concealing the death, and conspiracy to conceal the death. Both suspects remain in custody, per NBC News.
A 5-year-old girl found encased in concrete and previously known only as “Baby Jane Doe” has been identified after 35 years, as authorities announced the arrest of her mother and her mother’s boyfriend in Georgia on Monday. https://t.co/WliOLyWsCa
— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 14, 2023
The breakthrough in the case came in 2022 following a public tip after renewed media attention, the report says. (RELATED: Police Find Four Children And A Dead Body At Boston Apartment Filled With Drugs, Sex Toys And Men In Drag)
“A tipster called. She had heard the story of ‘Baby Jane Doe,’ and she believed she may know who this little girl may be,” Special Agent in Charge Jason Seacrist said at the conference, NBC News reported. “She knew that a child had gone missing and that her mother said the child had gone to live with her father. This person never really believed that story.”
The GBI and Sheriff James thanked an anonymous donor for offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the resolution of the mysterious case, the outlet noted.