Heartbreaking: Identifying Toddler After 38 Years | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace | Forensic Files

NANCY GRACE: Pascagoula, Mississippi, December 1982. A truck driver crossing the I-10 bridge spots what he believes
is a woman's body. RANDY MUFFLEY: It was two reserve deputies who were responding to the bridge.
And they started walking the bridge and looking, and they came across the body of a toddler,
female toddler face down in the water. NANCY GRACE: Well, it's certainly a grim discovery.
And it's a discovery that sparks a mystery, a mystery that lasts for 38 years. No one had ever seen something like this before.
It was really, really traumatizing. NANCY GRACE: No one claims the little girl as theirs.
At first, people in the community, give her the name Baby Jane. But eventually, she'll be known as Delta Dawn.
Ironically, as cops investigate what happened to the tot, they will stumble upon a separate murder case.
Can new forensic science finally give answers to two different mysteries that remain unanswered for 38 years?
I'm Nancy Grace. This is "Bloodline Detectives." [THEME MUSIC] 1982, Pascagoula, Jackson County, Mississippi,
an industrial city situated on the Gulf of Mexico in two hours east of New Orleans.
COURTNEY FRETWELL: Only about 20,000 people live there. And it's kind of a suburban feel,
small town feel outside of any larger city in Mississippi. NANCY GRACE: December 5, 1982, this normally quiet
southern community is shaken. A passing truck driver happens to spot what he thinks
is a woman's body on the banks of the Escatawpa River off Interstate 10 near Moss Point.
RANDY MUFFLEY: It was two reserve deputies who were responding to the bridge. And they started walking the bridge and looking,
and they came across the body of a toddler, a female toddler face down in the water.
COURTNEY FRETWELL: One of the first theories early on was that the child had been thrown from the bridge
on Interstate 10. And the reason why the officer suspected that was the location
of her body was very unusual. It was in a location that wasn't readily seen from the bridge
and from the highway. It was a little bit off. So this told investigators that the child had likely
been thrown from the bridge and ended up where she did by the river. NANCY GRACE: Police in Pascagoula
surprised by the discovery. It's a tragedy with many more questions than answers.
MIKE EZELL: As a young patrolman Pascagoula Police Department, broadcast across the police radio.
This was something that I'd never heard of before or I'd seen something like this because we were all talking
about it back in those days because this was something that just doesn't seem to happen in Jackson County.
EDWARD CLARK: This case was very emotional to begin with, you know, simply because of who it involved, you know,
a baby. And it's always something hard to look into. It can tear you apart emotionally if you let it.
In a small community like this, word spreads quickly about a terrible crime, especially
one that involves a child. Neighbors want to help in any way they can. It's that way in Pascagoula when a precious tot is found dead.
Officers from Jackson County Sheriff's Office get a call with a very disturbing tip.
EDWARD CLARK: There was CB chatter of a female walking down the road with the baby
with no shoes, no jacket. The female was in distress, crying I wouldn't take assistance from anybody, and just kept walking.
Now we've never verified that. This did not come out until after the baby was found,
so we don't know that that actually happened. NANCY GRACE: Events and information
seem to be cascading. A little baby found dead in the river, a mysterious woman in distress carrying
a child next to a busy freeway. But where is this woman? Who is she? COURTNEY FRETWELL: They had dragged the river.
They brought in helicopters to conduct aerial searches of the area. They had extensive searches on the ground.
This was a very exhaustive search for the Jackson County investigators. NANCY GRACE: As the tragedy sinks in,
there is a sense of deep loss among residents and urge to do something, anything
for this precious child. And that is exactly how Bobbie Hudgins and her family feel.
BOBBIE HUDGINS: My dad was the deputy Sheriff for the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, and he brought
her case file home one evening. He was going over the case with my mom, and it just tugged at her heart.
And she asked him was there a way that they could claim the body or adopt the body and give
her a Christian burial. RANDY MUFFLEY: And the placard they put on her gravesite
said "Baby Jane Known Only to God" because no one else knew who she was at the time.
NANCY GRACE: The tragic loss of a tot girl and the crime surrounding it has the attention of everyone.
But even so, investigators make very little progress, and the entire community remains traumatized.
Police searched the river desperate for clues. COURTNEY FRETWELL: Investigators were hopeful
that their search of the area would reveal where this adult female was. They had already discovered the child,
and they assumed that by searching the area by land, by water, by air, that they would eventually find her.
NANCY GRACE: While police search the Escatawpa River for a woman who may be the tot's mother, they find another body.
And it is not the mother. It's the body of an adult male. RANDY MUFFLEY: They come and dragged this river here
for a couple of days. They dragged the river. And on December the eighth, they discovered the skeletal
remains of a Black male. NANCY GRACE: Police now have two unidentified dead bodies
including a tot girl. They're looking for a missing woman, a woman staying close to the river.
Next on "Bloodline Detectives," this mystery only deepens. Pascagoula, Mississippi, December 1982, police
make a terrible discovery. They find the body of an unidentified tot girl. Witnesses come forward to tell police that in the days earlier
they've seen a barefoot woman walking along the interstate holding a baby. Police conclude she may also be in the river,
and they begin a search for her. But instead, they make a discovery that raises even more questions.
COURTNEY FRETWELL: Three days after the police discovered the child's body on December 8th,
officers found an additional body in the river. But unlike the child, officers found very skeletonized remains
of an unidentified young African-American male only about 60 yards away from the child's body in the river.
They were able to determine that he had been in the water for about six months before.
And when they looked at his body, they determined that he had been a victim of a homicide
and had been shot in the head. NANCY GRACE: In 1982, Pascagoula is a little town
where there's practically no crime at all, much less serious crime. And now suddenly, local police are
investigating two dead bodies. To top it all off, they can't find any meaningful clues
in either case. Investigators hope and pray Baby Jane's autopsy will reveal how she died.
BOBBIE HUDGINS: The autopsy said that the baby wasn't dead until she hit the water.
She had mud in her lungs and also that she didn't have any food in her stomach, that she had not eaten for at least three days
before she passed away. My dad was thinking maybe that the mother was holding her close to her chest and thought
she may have accidentally killed her, and she didn't know what to do and panicked.
You know, that's my dad's belief. NANCY GRACE: Baby Jane's autopsy gives police insight
into how this little tot girl died, and it also helps build a timeline of events.
But still, police are no closer to finding out who she is and who caused her death.
COURTNEY FRETWELL: Police were doing things like blood typing. They weren't necessarily doing advanced, complex DNA
forensic testing in these cases. So in a lot of instances when there wasn't forensic evidence
or they weren't able to collect it or test it, police officers were having to go out and find witnesses
and really get back to good, old-fashioned police work when it came to investigating cases.
It was a much different world back in the 1980s. NANCY GRACE: Police desperately need a break in the case.
From autopsy photos, they arrange for a sketch artist to sketch baby Jane's face.
And next, a professional artist makes an even more detailed color image of the tot's likeness.
This image is now sent to newspapers throughout the area. EDWARD CLARK: It was a very close picture to what
the child actually looked like. It was almost haunting. It was very close to what she actually looked like.
NANCY GRACE: Baby Jane's picture fails to bring any leads. And this tot girl remains unidentified for 27 years.
But then, 2009, a cold case team reopens the case. And one of the first things they do is create a Facebook page.
Baby Jane is renamed Delta Dawn. It's a name taken from a famous Tanya Tucker song about loneliness on the Mississippi Delta.
RANDY MUFFLEY: When she was found, she had on a diaper and a dress with three flowers on it.
You know, from the end I referred to her as Baby Jane. But in 2009 when investigator Hope Manning began looking
into the cold case, she started a Facebook page and didn't feel comfortable calling her Baby Jane.
She wanted to give her a name. And how she was discovered early in the dawn morning here
in the river she started calling her Delta Dawn. COURTNEY FRETWELL: Throughout the years,
the police received a lot of different tips and information about missing children.
And each time that a case came in, it was compared against Delta Dawn's. But unfortunately, none of the cases matched.
NANCY GRACE: By 2009, DNA is a standard police investigative tool. Investigators hope this science can
reveal Delta Dawn's identity. But of course, there's a problem. Investigators never collected a DNA sample back in 1982,
a sample from baby Delta Dawn. Now the only option left-- to dig up, exhume the child's body.
RANDY MUFFLEY: In 2009, Hope petitioned the courts to have Baby Jane exhumed so we could get some tissue samples
for DNA comparison, which was done by Dr. McGarry and the coroner at the time Vicki Broadus.
And they were successful in getting some tissue samples. And those were sent to North Texas University
where the DNA profile was made. It was only uploaded to CODIS, which, you know, most likely
we were never going to get a hit on it because she wasn't going to commit a crime.
COURTNEY FRETWELL: When the child's body was exhumed, DNA was collected from her remains
so that the DNA could be uploaded to various missing persons databases including the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children. When the DNA was uploaded to various databases in 2009, investigators unfortunately didn't get a match.
NANCY GRACE: Jackson County cold case detectives hit a dead end. Fast forward another 10 years, and the discovery of
a remarkable new forensic tool. Can science finally identify the name of baby Delta Dawn?
That's next on "Bloodline Detectives." Pascagoula, Mississippi, December 2019, it's 37 years
after an unidentified tot girl and a male murder victim both found days apart along the Escatawpa river off I-10.
The unidentified little girl has been named Delta Dawn. The adult male murder victim also is unidentified.
Police call him Moss Point John Doe. And now, a new generation of cold case detectives take over,
and they pin their hopes on new DNA forensic science. Genetic genealogy combines advanced DNA
testing with traditional genealogical research. DNA can be collected from the unidentified person,
and the DNA can be uploaded to various genetic databases to not only search for the exact match
of the unidentified person but to also potentially locate familial matches, family members of the person
that they are attempting to identify. EDWARD CLARK: I had recently put my DNA into a website.
That day that I did it, the day I uploaded it had found over 1,500 people I was kin
to in just a matter of minutes. I knew we had the baby's DNA. Why don't we go this route?
We're surely to find a relative. RANDY MUFFLEY: Sergeant Clark brought to my attention
because he'd done the family genealogy. When he got his report back, he saw, like, over 1,000 people
that he was, you know, relative of across the world. He approached me and said, why can't we
do this for the Baby Jane? NANCY GRACE: The task ahead for investigators and scientists
is a difficult one. DNA samples taken from baby Delta Dawn and Moss Point John Doe are old.
They are badly degraded. Investigators now contact the forensic genetic genealogy
specialists at Othram laboratories. The scientists there at Othram have an incredible track
record at cracking cold cases. Because Othram was able to identify remains found
in sewage tanks or bodies of water before, remains that have been contaminated by being submerged, that it's very different
than finding remains on land. There's a lot more contamination with the water and it obviously makes it very different for the way
the DNA looks. And so I think that's the reason we were chosen to work this case.
DAVID MITTELMAN: The typical problems with skeletal remains are that the DNA is generally fairly degraded.
There is going to be a lot of non-human stuff like bacteria and other things that have since become kind of infused
with the remaining human material. And sometimes there's even damage and other things
that have environmental insults that have made the DNA harder to work with. We worked on a case that was over 100 years old.
Those are really challenging cases. And a lot of people that employ methods that are not
forensic in nature, if you apply, like, recreational or medical DNA testing approaches, you might even be led to the conclusion
that there isn't any DNA. But there is DNA. It just takes a little bit of extra effort to get it,
to isolate the part that's usable, and to prep it such that it can be properly read by these machines.
NANCY GRACE: It's been almost four decades since the bodies were discovered, but police still hope for a breakthrough.
Oh, yeah. I mean, this was pretty much our last hope. It was the only thing we had left to go on.
It was DNA research. NANCY GRACE: The scientific work ahead is not without a real cost.
The Jackson County sheriffs need financial help to continue the scientific work on the cases.
KRISTEN MITTELMAN: I absolutely think that it affected a lot of people in the community.
I know it did because this is a case that we crowdfunded on DNA solves. And we actually had a woman cancel her 40th birthday trip
so that she could pay for this case because she said that she would have been the same age as Delta Dawn.
And for her entire life, that story had haunted her, and she wanted to know if she could help figure
out who that little girl was. RANDY MUFFLEY: It just happened to work out. As we were looking into the cold case and looking to reopen it,
Catherine Serbousek from New York had contacted my office, and she had read about Baby Jane.
She wanted to know what she could-- what she could do to help. I told her we were in the process of getting Othram
to build us a profile that we can enter and do a genealogical research. So I put her in touch with Othram,
and they worked out the finances. And she's very beneficial to us. NANCY GRACE: The work by Othram labs is a go.
Othram request samples from the Jackson County sheriff's crime scene analyst. Jeremy Miller takes the samples in person
to Othram's headquarters in Texas. When I was working here for the Sheriff's Office,
I was over the evidence room. They asked me to bring all the samples that we had left from a previous exhumation in 2009.
And we still had them in a freezer. There was nine pieces that I brought over to them.
NANCY GRACE: Othram begins the delicate task of extracting DNA from 37-year-old bone samples.
DAVID MITTELMAN: We'll generally look at various different parts of what skeletal remains are
available to us. We'll do a lot of kind of initial work to kind of characterize and see which pieces of evidence
are most suitable. We'll do multiple extractions of DNA. We'll then QC that DNA and look at the degradation, how much
she nearly got, you know, how much non-human stuff is in there. And based on all of those kind of measurements
and determinations, we'll kind of put together a game plan for what the best piece of DNA is that we could recover
and how to best process it so we can build one of those high-performing DNA profiles
that can be used to perhaps identify who the person is. NANCY GRACE: Weeks later, Othram has news for the cold case
detectives back in Mississippi. COURTNEY FRETWELL: When Othram received the DNA sample, which
in this case was a very small amount of DNA, it was less than 1 picogram. NANCY GRACE: It's an unimaginably small amount
of DNA. 1 picogram is equivalent to a trillionth of a gram. Othram was able to take the small amount
and generate a DNA profile from the sample. Once Othram had the DNA sample, It was uploaded across various databases
looking either for an exact match to the sample or a family member. DAVID MITTELMAN: We've got this little girl
that we're trying to identify. Like there's no public record really. Like how are we going to find the public records
for a little girl? It's not an adult. We get led to essentially what we think is her closest family members, and we find someone
that we think is likely to be a close family member, and we relay that information to the Jackson
County sheriff's office. KRISTEN MITTELMAN: It's that moment when you realize, I think I know who this person is,
and I'm going to be able to give back a lead that will help this investigation close.
It's often still a puzzle when we return the information back to law enforcement, and they're the ones that figure out
that final piece with that DNA sample that comes back for us to confirm the relationships.
NANCY GRACE: At last the pieces of this vexing puzzle are coming together. For the first time, police have a solid lead on the identity
of baby Delta Dawn's family, and they travel to Missouri to trace the tot's origins.
MIKE EZELL: Captain Muffley came back with some potential information that we could follow up on.
We were just ecstatic. So the guy's made contact with some investigators in Missouri,
and they started working the case from there. You know, those guys were so fired up and ready to go.
It was exciting to see that. And I knew that if they got up there and they could find some folks to talk to,
we'd have a very good chance at solving this case. COURTNEY FRETWELL: From the DNA sample,
Othram was able to identify a relative of Delta Dawn, a woman named Theresa Spencer.
And as soon as Jackson County deputies heard the name Theresa Spencer, they went to her house.
And when they went to her house, the first thought that Theresa Spencer had was that the deputies
were there for her sister Gwendolyn Clemons. RANDY MUFFLEY: She thought that maybe we
had found her sister who had been missing since 1982. They couldn't tell her that we had found a baby not a woman.
They just told her that we found a potential family member. When they made that encounter with her,
we knew we were on the right track. NANCY GRACE: The information from baby Delta Dawn's relative
matches that of the forensic genetic genealogy team. RANDY MUFFLEY: She told investigators
that her sister and her daughter went missing right after Thanksgiving in 1982. NANCY GRACE: After almost four decades,
the riddles of both baby Delta Dawn's identity and that of Moss Point John Doe are
so much closer to being solved. But investigators need just a little more proof.
That's next on "Bloodline Detectives." It's been 37 years since the vexing mystery began
surrounding an unidentified tot girl found dead in Pascagoula, Mississippi there on the riverbanks.
For years, authorities called the little girl Delta Dawn. Around the time the tot girl is discovered,
witnesses tell police they saw a distressed-looking woman carrying a child. Cops look for the woman, but she's never found.
Now, a new generation of cold case detectives and a ground-breaking laboratory named
Othram labs may have answers. They have identified Theresa Spencer as a likely relative
of tot girl, Delta Dawn. When police arrive, Theresa tells them her sister Gwendolyn Mae Clemons and her baby daughter
have been missing since Thanksgiving 1982. DAVID MITTELMAN: 40 years is a long time for a case.
We were excited just to get a DNA profile. There were repeated attempts made to get a profile from this DNA, and they were not successful.
So just knowing we had a DNA profile was a relief and it felt great. But then being able to narrow in on what
we thought was a reasonably close family member was fascinating. And so we passed that information
back to the investigators as part of this FBI Joint task force. And she opens the door.
She says, did you find my sister? And it's, like, such a shocking revelation. And sure enough, without revealing anything
about what Othram did, she just unloads the story of a sister that she had who had a little girl.
They vanished and that was it. Nothing ever came of it, and she never heard from her again.
EDWARD CLARK: At that point, we did speak with Theresa. She gave us a timeline of her sister
when she left Joplin, Missouri, who she left Joplin, Missouri with. COURTNEY FRETWELL: She was recently
divorced from her daughter's father, and she had recently met a man, and the two of them
had gotten into a relationship together. And Gwen decided to take her 18-month-old daughter,
go with her new boyfriend, and start a new life for themselves. When Gwen left on this trip, she was never seen again.
NANCY GRACE: But cold case detectives need proof, proof that Theresa Spencer is, in fact, a close relative of baby Delta Dawn.
They ask her for a DNA sample in the belief that woman is the tot girl's aunt. DAVID MITTELMAN: There is a lot of similarities
between this lost sister and her daughter and the little girl we're trying to identify.
They asked this woman, would you be willing to do a DNA test because ultimately that's going to help us understand
if, in fact, this little girl and the person you know might be the same? And it turns out she was the aunt.
She was the aunt of this little girl. KRISTEN MITTELMAN: We needed her aunt's DNA sample
so that we could do a one-to-one comparison and without a shadow of a doubt prove that this was
an aunt and niece relationship. And that's exactly what happened in this case. NANCY GRACE: For 38 years, a precious little girl
is known as Baby Jane and then Delta Dawn. But now, at last, her real identity is revealed.
COURTNEY FRETWELL: Delta dawn was eventually identified as Alisha Ann Heinrich. MIKE EZELL: Of course, you know, that name
didn't mean anything to me. But what it meant was after all these years, that child out there known only to God now had a name
and we knew where she came from. NANCY GRACE: An incredible coincidence takes place just at this time.
While detectives Randy Muffley and Edward Clark are actually with baby Delta Dawn's aunt, Theresa Spencer,
they got a call from Othram labs. Othram labs confirms Theresa is Delta Dawn's aunt,
and they tell her they have found her missing niece. RANDY MUFFLEY: Myself and Sergeant Clark
and one of the investigators from the FBI went back up there. And while we were there, you know,
conducting further interviews about Gwendolyn's lifestyle. And while we were there speaking with them in their living room,
we got the call from Othram saying that they confirm that the aunt was the relative of Baby Jane.
It turns out that you are her aunt. So we're positive that we've recovered Alisha.
NANCY GRACE: But there's still one piece missing from this vexing jigsaw puzzle.
It's the fate of Gwendolyn Mae Clemons, the tot girl's mother. Gwendolyn Mae Clemons disappeared without a trace,
but police suspect they know what happened. COURTNEY FRETWELL: I think she was just not happy with her life.
She decided to leave her husband. She met another man who at one point she probably
thought she was in love with, and she wanted to start a new life. They decided to travel to Florida
together to be miles and miles away. And I think pretty quickly and pretty early
on in the relationship there was trouble between the two of them. RANDY MUFFLEY: Wayne sent Theresa and her sister
a letter saying that, you know, she had been communicating with this male from a previous relationship.
They were in love, and she knew that she felt like a high school kid again. Just all giddy.
And couldn't wait to start a new life with him. EDWARD CLARK: We did talk with family on both sides.
We don't know if there was an altercation between the two. Maybe he hurt her, done something to her.
Then you have a child you have to deal with. I've always thought kind of along those lines
after, you know, what we learned after talking with everybody and interviewing everybody, that our suspect
ended up killing both of them. RANDY MUFFLEY: Several things got to happen. But, you know, we could take guesses at it.
But apparently, something happened between the male and Gwendolyn because he returned three days later
without Gwendolyn and the baby saying that he dropped them off with another male
that she run off with. Our theory is he'd done something because from speaking with the family, Gwendolyn would have never done
anything to hurt that child. NANCY GRACE: Is it possible Gwendolyn Mae Clemons is still alive and living under the radar
with an assumed name? As much as I want to hold out hope that Gwendolyn is still out there somewhere,
she hasn't been seen since 1982. And at this point, I unfortunately don't think that she's out there anymore.
NANCY GRACE: Delta Dawn's real name is Alisha Heinrich. The tight-knit community of Pascagoula
rallies together to recognize Alisha's life and her tragic death in the best way they can.
RANDY MUFFLEY: 25 years after her discovery, they had another service. And then once we identified her, they
had a new headstone made for her with her name on it and both of the pictures, the one that was on the headstone
before and her actual picture, at the top of the headstone. MIKE EZELL: And we all went out with the media on that day.
We had the burial and the tombstone. It's one of those surreal moments where, you know,
you're excited, but you're also saddened because this child never had a chance to grow
up and be a part of life. It's good and bad, you know. And that's some of the things that happen in police work,
you know. You get up one day, and you're down the next. You get excited, and you lose your happiness.
The cost of this tragedy. She become a part of our lives. It wasn't like she was a stranger.
It was, like, having her as a sister that I never met. We had a great big picture of her hanging
in our living room for years. We looked at her every day that we went through the living room.
Although we never knew her in life and although it was tragic circumstances with her losing her life
and not knowing her, she as brought several families together. You know, her family has become a part of our family.
We had even asked if they wanted to bring the baby to Missouri where she was from.
The aunt said that she was in our lives longer than theirs and it wouldn't be proper to take her
away from us down here. NANCY GRACE: The discovery of Alisha Heinrich's identity
after 38 long years is an incredible achievement. But remember, there's still another mystery to be solved.
Who is the adult, male murder victim also found in Pascagoula, Mississippi back in 1982?
Police have long called him Moss Point John Doe. That's next on "Bloodline Detectives."
It's been 38 long years, and finally, "Bloodline Detectives" and Othram labs uncover the identity
of a precious tot girl found in Pascagoula, Mississippi. But there's still another mystery to solve--
the identity of an adult male, a homicide victim found almost the same time. Up to now, police have called him Moss Point John Doe.
DAVID MITTELMAN: When we got his skeletal remains, unfortunately, and this happens sometimes,
the remains were just in really bad shape. There was a lot of DNA damage. And it was just something that we weren't
really set up to work on. And so we put the case on pause, and we kind of made a promise
to ourselves because at Othram we don't want to leave any case behind. We made a promise to ourselves to come back to that case.
It had been a year. But then we called back the agency, said, you know, what guys? I think we're ready.
I think we feel confident that we can take on that case, not destroy the evidence, not waste the evidence
and come back with a great answer. And so we took the case on, reignited it. And sure enough, using some of the newer techniques
we developed, we were able to build a profile from Moss Point John Doe. And he ended up being a homicide victim.
His name was Gary Simpson. His uncle had been looking for him, had reported him missing.
His uncle was looking for him. We ended up eventually connecting to his sister who's still alive to this day.
KRISTEN MITTELMAN: When we identified him, his sister said that he actually reminded her of the Black John
Travolta, and that he was the life of the party, and she had spent decades looking for him.
And so it was a real pleasure to be able to help that investigation as well. NANCY GRACE: The loved ones of both Alisha Heinrich and Gary
Simpson can now rest in the knowledge their loved ones have finally been identified.
But police still want to know exactly what happened to them and to the toddler girl Alisha's mother.
EDWARD CLARK: It is still open because we have not located her. I believe we know the story of what happened,
but we have still not located her. So therefore, until we do, we are still going to be looking.
MIKE EZELL: You know, you never know. We didn't know we'd ever find out who this child was either.
So there's always that opportunity, that hope that it may happen, you know. And with these men and women that we
have working on these cases here and with the advancement of technology and, you know, the working networks that we
have with other law enforcement Agency's, anything's possible. NANCY GRACE: The team reflects on how
two seemingly impossible to crack cases have been closed. Closed by a groundbreaking scientific technique,
forensic genetic genealogy. COURTNEY FRETWELL: Genetic genealogy is a huge game changer for law enforcement
who're being able to solve cases that are 20, 30, 40, even 50 years old. Like I say, without it, we would never solve this case.
NANCY GRACE: It's a success brought about by a partnership between skilled scientists
and dedicated police officers. MIKE EZELL: What I'll say about law enforcement officers, well,
they are persistent. They know that there's an answer out there somewhere. And if you just look around this country,
you look around this county, and you see law enforcement officers wanting to do their jobs.
And when law enforcement is allowed to utilize their training, modern technology,
and good, old-fashioned shoe leather, we can solve some cases. And that's what these guys did.
EDWARD CLARK: I still can't believe we are where we are with this case. Once the ball did get rolling, I had a feeling
that we were going to, you know, find out what her name was. I had no idea that we were going to get as much as we did--
an actual story, an actual timeline. It was a team effort. And it played out perfect.
RANDY MUFFLEY: There were so many people who knew about the story from around here.
It was nice to give our community that closure, give her her name back. So many people around here kept up
with the case all these years, and she wasn't forgotten by no one around here. NANCY GRACE: Back in 1982, a river in Pascagoula,
Mississippi becomes the resting place for two complete strangers. One, a precious tot girl whose mother seemingly
vanished into thin air. The other, an adult male, the victim of violence. We'll probably never really know the reason for their deaths,
but what we do know 40 years later their real names are Alisha Heinrich and Gary Simpson.
They were identified by the incredible work of scientists and investigators who never gave up.
I'm Nancy Grace. Thanks for being with us here on "Bloodline Detectives." [THEME MUSIC]

In 1982 the body of a toddler is found in the Escatawpa River in Mississippi. The investigation raises more questions than answers as they investigate the circumstances around this shocking crime. Nearly four decades later, genetic genealogy experts may finally be able to name this little girl.

Now in its third season, Bloodline Detectives is the leading true crime series that explores how police departments harness genetic genealogy to solve crimes that were once considered "unsolvable," bringing long-awaited answers to victims' families.

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Brief Summary

The episode reveals the identities of a toddler and adult found dead in Pascagoula, Mississippi, using advanced DNA techniques after 38 years.

Key points

The Discovery of Baby Jane. In December 1982, a truck driver finds a toddler's body in Pascagoula, sparking a mystery.
The Name Change to Delta Dawn. In 2009, Baby Jane is renamed Delta Dawn, reflecting her tragic story.
DNA Breakthroughs in Cold Cases. New forensic science offers hope in identifying Delta Dawn and Moss Point John Doe.
Aunt's DNA Confirms Relationship. Theresa Spencer's DNA confirms she is the aunt of Delta Dawn, leading to a breakthrough.
The Mystery of Delta Dawn. After 38 years, the identity of Delta Dawn is finally revealed as Alisha Heinrich.
Closure for the Community. The community gathers to honor Alisha Heinrich with a new headstone after her identification.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This was something that just doesn't seem to happen in Jackson County.

Mike Ezell recalls the shock of the case.

3:38WatchApr 24, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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