The Misery Machine - The Case of Baby Garin & Baby Jane Doe

Starting point is 00:00:00 The date is Saturday, December 3rd, 1994, in the Las Lomas area of California. It's about one in the afternoon. The area between Garon Road and Lewis Road was decided by Californian citizens to be a garbage dump, and it's an unnamed man's job to pick up their trash. Today, it's on the cleaner side, so he won't have to spend as much time here. All is normal. Then, he nears some bushes and tall grass where he spots a paper growing. grocery bag. He looks closer. He doesn't find forgotten groceries or trash inside. Instead, inside is a

Starting point is 00:00:38 deceased newborn. And he doesn't even need to open it to tell. The baby's head peers out from the paper bag's opening. He immediately finds the nearest phone and calls the police. The baby wears a white t-shirt, white socks, a winter hat, a blue sweater, a turquoise onesie, and a diaper printed with yellow swans. tan and blue horses, and other animals. He is cloaked in a white blanket striped with pink and blue. It has been some time since the baby died. The body is already in the process of decay. The decomposition is so bad. Officers at first can't tell the baby's race, sex, age, or even if he died during the labor process. Later, an autopsy answers all of these questions. The baby is a boy. He had been dead two to three weeks before the trash collector stumbled upon him purely by chance.

Starting point is 00:01:35 He is not a stillborn baby. He lived for at least two to three days. He was thought to be of Latino or Caucasian descent. Investigators also determined that baby wasn't born in a hospital. Police lieutenant Robert Baer said in an interview with the news, We're looking for someone to come forth who remembers seeing a pregnant woman who should have given birth by now, but there's no baby about. They ultimately couldn't determine the cause of death. The child was given the name Baby Garen as he was found by the trash collector on Garen Road.

Starting point is 00:02:10 Police released all the information they could to the public in hopes of identifying the child and his mother. Sergeant Mike Brassfield, who was acting as a spokesman for the department, told the press, we've reached the point where we don't have any new information. We were following leads, but they didn't pan out. The press released phone numbers for the Sheriff's Department, the tip line, and crime stoppers. Coverage continued for a couple of years, and a reward of up to $1,000 is offered to increase incentive to identify Baby Garron and his mother, but nobody came forward, and nothing new about Baby Garron is officially mentioned. Three years later in spring of 1997, Baby Garin's cremated remains were scattered at sea by Reverend William

Starting point is 00:02:51 Power Clancy. His remains, along with 80 other John and Jane Does in the county, are spread during this trip. The coroners hold on to a sample of baby Garen's DNA just in case someone, somewhere, comes forward with any information but what happened to this poor boy. Unfortunately, as we've seen too many times in generations past, year after year goes by without a single word said by anyone. Sadly, seemed like this boy would become yet another statistic and a long list of American cold cases. But after three long decades, an arrest was finally made.

Starting point is 00:03:27 So how did it happen? Well, right now we can only go by what the Monterey County Sheriff's Office said in their October 17th, 2024 press conference, and I quote, in early 2023, the Monterey County District Attorney's Colt Case Homicide Team joined forces with the Monterey County Sheriff's Office and our detectives. Based on the technological advances in the identification of DNA, forensic evidence collected in this investigation was sent to the California Department of Justice Forensic Laboratory. That forensic evidence was then forwarded to a Texas-based private forensic lab, known as Othrum, who was able to produce a DNA strand or DNA profile suitable for forensic genetic genealogy. That DNA profile was then forwarded off to a genealogy company called Solved by DNA.

Starting point is 00:04:13 That company is based out of Colorado. Solved by DNA was able to provide investigative leads on who the family of this baby Garron, our baby Garron, could be. Monterey County District Attorney's Office, cold case task force detectives were then able to conduct follow-up interviews and obtain DNA samples, which ultimately led to the identification of baby Garon's mother. Investigators used genealogy to find their suspect and make an arrest. It wouldn't be the first time, and it most definitely won't be the last. However, this kind of DNA investigation is a bit of a controversial topic, one that brings up questions of privacy, transparency, and legality.

Starting point is 00:04:49 Now, as sites such as family tree DNA and GED match, law enforcement has been able to use the submissions of DNA from random people to compare to their sample for a match. Currently, there's not much in the way of state and federal laws to protect your DNA, and until clear legislation is made as it pertains to DNA, we should basically expect to be at the mercy of what a database owner chooses to do when it comes to working with law enforcement. Now, despite the criticisms of DNA investigation and analysis, there's no denying that there are count. examples of unsolved cases that would not have been solved if it were not for DNA. It's also been a huge help identifying John and Jane Doe's, such as Orange Sox and the Walker County Jane Doe, where in the very least, closure can be given to a victim's family about what happened to their loved one who's been missing for decades. There's no doubt cases such as these would have been lost to time without such advancements,

Starting point is 00:05:42 and no matter what your personal opinion on it is, with the rise in popularity of genealogy services. There's no going back and these databases are here to stay. Now, I would go into detail about the Golden State Killer and how DNA evidence from HomeKit solved that case, but that case is really well known as become something of a gold standard of sorts when discussing cracked cold cases. Here in Maine, we have a very similar case up in Frenchville that was recently solved by DNA evidence. This is a case that's recently been solved and I've wanted to discuss it for some time. There's just not a ton of information for a typical episode. Now, if you follow Dr. Todd Grande on YouTube, you might be familiar with this

Starting point is 00:06:27 case as he discussed it last month. On the evening of December 7, 1985, Armands and Lorraine Pellateer were woken up in the middle of the night by their Siberian husky named Paca, who needed to be let back inside of the house. Now, Frenchville is in a rustic county, known simply as the county by local. and borders New Brunswick, Canada. In the wintertime, it gets freezing up there. So when Armin opened his front door and found a newborn baby on his doorsteps with his umbilical cord still attached,

Starting point is 00:06:58 he immediately called out for his wife who worked as a medical assistant. Sadly, with one look, Lorraine already knew the baby was dead. She said, this baby was a perfect little baby. I mean, she even had a little dimple, just cute as a button.

Starting point is 00:07:14 According to Armand, I could not believe what I saw. I saw what looked like a little rag doll, but then we saw it was a frozen little baby. After calling 911, the peloteers were scared for Paca safety, saying, I was afraid they were going to take my dog away, and they said, no, we're not going to take your dog away. Your dog was trying to save this baby. Police tracked Paca's path to a nearby gravel pit where they believed the baby was born and discarded in sub-zero temperatures. It's belief that Paca found the baby in the gravel pit and brought her back home in an attempt to help her.

Starting point is 00:07:51 In the days and weeks that followed, both Armin and Lorraine were haunted with guilt. Like many couples today, the Pellateer struggled with infertility, and due to the fact that it was 1985 and IVF wasn't what it was today, the two were left childless. According to Lorraine, one of the questions I asked them, the police, I said, you know, if this baby had lived,

Starting point is 00:08:13 would we have had the chance to adopt her because we're not able to have children. The little girl was known as baby Jane Doe and was buried in a numbered popper's grave in Bangor, Maine. Nearly 37 years went by before the case had its first break, and that's all thanks to advancements in DNA evidence, genetic genealogy,

Starting point is 00:08:34 and decades' worth of old-fashioned police work. According to the police, this case was the culmination of decades' worth of investigative work from dozens of now retired and current detectives who never gave up finding answers and justice for baby Jane Doe. On June 13, 2022, 58-year-old Leanne Daigle of Lowell, Massachusetts, who was then 21-year-old Leanne Gorette, was arrested for her baby's death. She was charged with depraved indifference murder and faced up to 20 years imprisonment and up to $50,000 in fines. While awaiting

Starting point is 00:09:09 trial, she was held in the Ehrustic County Jail in Holden. It was released on bail two. months later in August. Pelotier, now living in Bangor, couldn't believe their ears when the main state police showed up on their doorstep with the news. According to Lorraine, I just couldn't believe it. It's the last thing I ever expected to hear. Lorraine had always believed that the baby's mother had crossed the border from Canada. She later told reporters, it's too bad that she didn't ring our doorbell and say, I need some help. We've helped so many people in our lives. Now that baby Jane Doe has been identified, Lorraine Pellateer wants to be the one to give the little girl a name once and for all. Lorraine always had a name picked out if she ever

Starting point is 00:09:47 gave birth to a little girl. Said she'd give the name Janelle in honor of her own mother and Armand's mother. Lorraine wants to write Leanne Daigle a letter to ask her, why did she do what she did? She said, why, how could you have left a little baby? Animals don't do that. She also noted that she hopes justice get served, stating, I just hope that she serves her time. I feel she needs to serve some time for it. Sadly, on April 6th, 2023, Leanne Daigle pled guilty to manslaughter. Some new developments today in the case of a newborn baby found dead in 1985. A woman has now admitted to playing a role in that baby's death. New since Romance, Carly Dion, brings us the details from the courthouse in Holton. It's been more than 30 years since

Starting point is 00:10:32 newborn baby Jane Doe was found abandoned in a gravel pit in Frenchville with no trace of her parents. Today, that baby's mother, Leanne Daigle, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the death of her daughter. The allegation is that honor between December 6 or 7, 1985 at Arrusted County State of Maine, you did with criminal negligence caused the death of another human being, namely Baby Jane Doe. That December of 1985, a Frenchville couple's dog discovered Baby Jane Doe in a gravel pit and brought her to its owners. Maine State Police responded to the scene examining the condition of baby Jane Doe. She appeared to be full term and was found unclosed, unswaddled, and partially frozen. In the days that followed, the investigation led to more questions than answers.

Starting point is 00:11:23 That is, until 36 years later. The Maine State Police Crime Lab positively identified the father of baby Jane, who stated he was unaware of the pregnancy or birth. In 2022, a DNA sample confirmed Daigle was the baby's mother. Daigle initially denied that claim until later interviews. Ms. Daigle admitted to having delivered baby Jane in that gravel pit and abandoning her there acting alone. Dagle will remain out on bail until her sentencing, which is expected in the coming months. In Holton, Carly Dion, New Center, Maine.

Starting point is 00:11:58 Leanne is currently serving her sentence at the Maine Correctional Center in Wyndham. According to her inmate listing with the Maine Department of Corrections, her official sentence is 16 years, all but six years suspended, and three years probation. Her earliest projected release date is March 18, 26, so yes, six years is all she will likely serve for abandoning her baby in a gravel pit to freeze to death. Like in many states, Maine has a law that allows parents to surrender their infant that's aged 31 days old or less to law enforcement, and medical service providers such as hospitals. You might be more familiar with the term safe haven baby boxes. The law protects the confidentiality of the parent relinquishing a baby and stipulates that the provider cannot attempt to detain the parent.

Starting point is 00:12:48 This law went into effect in 2015. Sadly, 30 years too late. In 2024, Leanne attempted to appeal her sentence. A woman from Arrista County serving prison time for leaving her newborn baby to die nearly 40 years ago is now appealing her sentence. Good evening. Thanks for being with us. I'm Brian Yicono. And I'm Amanda Hill. Leanne Daigle gave birth in a gravel pit in February of 1985 and left her child there. The baby died and the case had gone cold until 2022 when police connected her DNA with the newborns.

Starting point is 00:13:23 She was sentenced to serve six years in prison and three years of probation. During her sentencing, Daigle told the court that she had regrets about what she had. had done and thought about it regularly. But the judge argued she told officers she was not the biological mother and therefore had either lied to them or the court giving her a chance to respond. Today her lawyer argued that the sentencing judge put Dagle in an impossible position to defend herself. It would seem that the court basically engaged in something that approached almost a cross-examination of her and basically said, you need to answer my questions, you need to figure this out or we're going to go ahead. And given the fact,

Starting point is 00:14:01 fact that it had already been explained to her that she was looking at potentially a 20-year sentence, she probably wasn't thinking as clearly as she should have been anyway. Ms. Daigle's statements created a dilemma of her own making. I mean, her statements to law enforcement took place over the course of several interviews. These were conversational interviews, not confrontational ones. They were provided in discovery. They were summarized and outlined to the court at the Rule 11 proceeding, which occurred many weeks before the sentencing. The main Supreme Judicial Court judges will now assess today's arguments before making a decision. As someone who struggles with fertility like Lorraine does, it sickens me when these options are not

Starting point is 00:14:43 being utilized. We discuss this topic in depth in our coverage of Jakela Williams in Alexei Trevisa last year, and we'll link both of those episodes in the description if you're new here. But something has to change, whether that be access to reproductive health care and contraception to education without shame attached to it. This behavior cannot continue to go on in a civilized society. Baby Janelle sure as hell did not deserve this, nor did Baby Garen. Regarding the search for Baby Garen's killer, California investigators reached out to a genealogy company in Colorado to aid in their investigation.

Starting point is 00:15:21 The genealogy company in Colorado found similar DNA in their database. California investigators were able to reignite their search efforts. They interviewed distant relatives gradually narrowing down their search until they found Pamela Ferreira. Pamela was arrested on October 17, 2024. She went quietly and cooperated with the officers, according to the press conference. At 60 years old, she still lived in California. In fact, she only lived six miles from where her infant son was found 30 years ago. The Monterey County Sheriff Tina Niedo said in a statement to the public,

Starting point is 00:15:54 This is a sad situation all around. We named the baby Garron not only for the area where he was found, but also because we stand as guardians for our community. Name Garin means protection. Every child deserves protection and people to advocate and seek justice for them. Andres Rosa, say, commanding police officer for the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, said about baby Garin,

Starting point is 00:16:16 if you ask any law enforcement professional, they will tell you that the hardest case to investigate is any involving crimes against children. These are emotional cases that one does not easily forget. The district attorney for Monterey County, Matthew Leroux, could only speculate how Pamela lived with herself for as long as she did. When it comes to arresting culprits in cold cases, he told the press, we run into a variety of different reactions.

Starting point is 00:16:41 Some of them seem to think that they have gotten away with it and are very surprised. Some of them have been waiting for that knock on the door for decades. I couldn't tell you which situation this falls under, but we're happy this day has come. These cases still matter. We care about all victims regardless of whenever these crimes took place. We're not going to stop working until these cases get solved. Pamela has lived a low-key, unassuming life this entire time. She worked as a nurse providing in-home care. She's a husband and other children who are all grown up now. Her son Nicholas died when he was 31 years old.

Starting point is 00:17:16 As of now, we don't know how exactly he died. There are no public obituaries or news reports about his passing. Pamela's Facebook account has either been hidden or deleted along with all her posts about him. However, an article by the Daily Mail managed to view her Facebook profile before it was hidden. They report she made a post about Nicholas about 10 months after his passing. They quote her as saying, It's hard. I'm fresh into this journey. I cry almost every day. Today's I feel hope, peace, love, and happiness.

Starting point is 00:17:46 Grief is tangled into every aspect of my life. Some days I cried just because I saw a picture or a day. video of Nicholas. I wish this wasn't true. I wish it wasn't him. The truth of real grief is your choices are limited. Grow and move forward or stop and let it slowly ruin and kill you and everyone around you. There is joy in the grief because there was so much love. We are learning that. I have no other choice than the choose to be stronger than I was the day before to work so damn hard. From what we can see from Nicholas's social media, he was very loved by his family. He was especially close with his siblings and his nieces.

Starting point is 00:18:27 He seemed to have been a bit of a foodie as well. He shared his personal struggles on occasion, but we don't know the context. Ironically, Nicholas was part of the Facebook group Crime Watch and Emergencies Watsonville, California. He interacted with and shared headlines from the group a handful of times between 2018 to 2021. In mid-October 24, headlines about his mother's arrest grace the group's discussion posts. It's jarring to imagine how he would feel if he were alive today, scrolling through social media, only to see his mother's face in his feed. Following the reports of his mother's charges and arrest, two comments bashing Pamela have appeared on Nick's inactive profile.

Starting point is 00:19:12 One of these comments called Nick's death karma for the death of baby Garen. Now, it should go without saying, but it bears repeating, absolutely, do not go out of your way to attack Pamela Ferreira's family members for her alleged crime. And especially, don't say things like this on her dead son's social media profile. Not only is it disrespectful and unnecessary, but is also pointless. Nick would have only been three years old when his infant brother was abandoned on Garron Road. His death is not karma. It's sad.

Starting point is 00:19:44 The Ferrara family will possibly be asked to testify in court. Now, if they do, their faces and names will be put on blast on new sources and crime discussion groups. In a sense, they're in a whole new period of mourning, and one that may take many forms and last a long, long time. Warning the simpler life they once had. Warning the woman they thought they knew. Morning the baby, they never met. It is not our place as internet strangers and the general public. to add more pressure to the Ferreira family. Unless the state presents evidence of compliance,

Starting point is 00:20:20 they are not guilty by association and should not be treated as if they are. In mid-October of 2024, Pamela Ferreira was brought before a judge where she pled not guilty. Her bond was set at $1 million. There is a chance that the investigator's methods of finding Pamela will lead to appeals or even a mistrial. If the defense questions the legality of this kind of DNA investigation hard enough, a judge or jury, may be swayed to give Pamela a lighter sentence or declare a mistrial or acquit her entirely. The two genealogy companies involved in this investigation, Authrum and solved by DNA, clearly state they specialize in solving cold cases and aiding law enforcement and investigation. However, they are both private

Starting point is 00:21:05 companies and they prioritize profit over anything else. It's important to keep that in mind as this case continues to unfold. This is not to excuse Pamela whatsoever, though she is still awaiting trial. She is innocent until proven guilty. But it is to say that her future depends on the integrity of this investigation. Now we'll need to wait and see how exactly this case unfold. No matter what happens, we hope baby Garen rests easy now and that justice is served.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Baby Garin & Baby Jane Doe

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