ST. IGNACE, Mich – A Wyoming woman has been extradited to Michigan on murder charges 25 years after a baby was found dead in a Michigan outhouse.
The baby girl was found in the waste pit of a Garnet Lake campground outhouse in 1997 and was known as “Baby Garnet.”
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Investigators said Nancy Ann Gerwatowski, 58, confirmed to them that she is the child’s mother.
Mackinac County Sheriff Edward M. Wilk said she gave investigators information “that provided probable cause to arrest her on the charge of homicide-open murder.”
Gerwatowski previously lived in the Garnet Lake area, Wilk said.
The case came back under review in 2017 when investigators turned to forensic genetic genealogy to search for answers. A genealogist was able to provide investigators with family bloodlines and the name of the mother.
A worker discovered Baby Garnet on June 26, 1997, while emptying a septic pit at the campground. The baby was estimated to be nearly full term.
At the time, police believed the child was placed in the outhouse as early as June 1.
The community raised nearly $1,000 to bury the child at Hudson Township Cemetery.
Gerwatowski is expected to be back in court on Aug. 9, 2022, at 9:30 a.m.
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