Costco Receipt Ties Woman To Baby Found Dead In Bay Area Dumpster: Report

UNION CITY, CA — More than 15 years after a newborn baby was found dead in a Bay Area dumpster, the woman accused of killing her was sentenced to prison after forensics tied her DNA to evidence collected in 2009.

On June 16, a judge sentenced 47-year-old Angela Beth Onduto to six years in state prison. In April, she pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, the SF Chronicle reported.

Prosecutors accused Onduto of drowning the baby and putting her body in a trash bag. Authorities said the baby was discovered on May 18, 2009, when a man was searching for recycling in a dumpster behind an apartment building in Union City. In addition to the baby, inside the dumpster were bloody clothes and a Costco receipt.

After interviewing residents at the apartment complex, Onduto was identified as a possible person of interest, but she could not be charged with any crime without additional evidence, authorities said.

The yearslong investigation remained open until last year when detectives used new forensic and DNA testing to identify the parents of the baby. In May of last year, on what would have been the newborn's 16th birthday, detectives traveled to Denver where Onduto was living to obtain a DNA sample. Through foresenic testing, Onduto was confirmed a parental match for the baby.

Onduto was arrested and extradited to Alameda County to face murder charges.

After she was found, Union City police named the dead newborn Matea Esperanza. She was buried at the Chapel of the Chimes in Hayward, which was paid for by UCPD officers.