Minnesota Mother Charged In Death Of Baby Found In 2003

LAKE PEPIN, MN — A woman has been arrested and charged with the 2003 death of a newborn baby boy whose body was discovered in Lake Pepin in 2003. Police said the boy is related to an infant girl who was found dead under similar circumstances in 1999.

Authorities said they used DNA testing to identify Jennifer Lynn Matter, 50, of Belvidere Township as the child’s mother. She faces two counts of second-degree murder in the 2003 death of the baby.

If convicted, Matter faces up to 40 years in prison.

Goodhue County deputies and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents arrested Matter just after 6:3o a.m. Monday at her Belvidere Township home.

"The tenacity of several investigators in our office to obtain justice for these babies and the perseverance by our community who assisted us in finding answers have led us here today," Goodhue County Sheriff Marty Kelly said in a news release. "We pray today’s arrest and charges provide some closure to all of those effected."

BCA Superintendent Drew Evans highlighted the bureau's forensics work.

"Genetic genealogy and Rapid DNA testing were both employed to develop a break in the case and then quickly confirm the identity of the babies’ mother," Evans said. "These kinds of scientific advances that can aid investigations are happening all the time. That is why it is so important to never give up on any unsolved case."

On Nov. 4, 1999, officers were dispatched to the Mississippi River in Red Wing for an earlier report of a dead infant found floating near the boathouses. The baby was wrapped in a white towel with the umbilical cord still attached, authorities said.

An autopsy conducted by Dr. Lindsey C. Thomas — of the Minnesota Regional Coroner’s Office — on Nov. 11, 1999, concluded that the infant was a well-developed term female with no congenital abnormalities or obvious injuries, according to the criminal complaint.

Thomas ruled the child's death a homicide but said its cause was undetermined.

On Dec. 7, 2003, officers were dispatched to Methodist Beach for a report of another dead infant found unclothed on the beach.

Four teenage girls discovered the baby boy while driving through the parking lot of the beach area, authorities said. The infant was lying on the water’s edge with his umbilical cord attached and wrapped around the middle of his body, according to the criminal complaint.

Thomas, who was still the coroner at that time, conducted an autopsy of the infant male child. She concluded that the infant was a full-term newborn male infant who was probably born alive.

Thomas ruled the death a homicide and said the cause of death was undetermined.

From 1999 to 2022, law enforcement "followed up on countless investigative leads related to both infants," the criminal complaint states. The BCA and the FBI independently concluded that the 1999 and 2003 infants were related.

In September 2020, Investigator Jon Huneke of the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Department was assigned to investigate the cold cases. On June 30, 2021, the BCA identified the biological father of the 1999 infant female, according to the criminal complaint.

After further investigation, Matter became a person of interest, police said.

On May 2, 2022, authorities executed a search warrant and collected a DNA sample from Matter. DNA test results concluded that Matter was likely the mother of the two children.

Child born in 1999

During a police interview earlier this month, Matter said her life was chaotic in 1999, according to the criminal complaint. She explained to police that she was in and out of jail and was drinking too much and making mistakes, police said.

According to the criminal complaint, Matter said she was not aware she was pregnant when — while on her way to drop off her kids (age 2 and 5) at school and daycare — she started bleeding.

After dropping off the kids, she returned to her home in Red Wing and gave birth in the bathroom, police said. Matter said the baby was born blue and was not breathing or crying, "so she freaked out," the criminal complaint states.

She drove the baby to Bay Point Park in the middle of the night, put the girl in the water near the boathouses and walked away, police said. A few days later, Matter heard that the baby had been found, according to authorities.

Child born in 2003

Matter believed that she was alone at a public beach in Frontenac when she went into labor with the male baby in 2003, according to the criminal complaint. She went to the beach to lie low because she had an arrest warrant and believed police were looking for her, authorities said.

The baby was born alive and breathing, according to investigators.

Matter told police that "it was dark outside, it was cold, that she did not look to see the gender of the child, and that she remembered leaving the baby on the beach before driving away," the criminal complaint states.

Matter knew she was pregnant before going into labor, but had no plans to keep the baby, authorities said.