Warning: This article contains content that some readers may find disturbing
A Massachusetts woman has admitted to manslaughter nearly four decades after giving birth and leaving her infant daughter in a freezing-cold gravel pit.
Lee Ann Daigle, 58, of Lowell, Massachusetts, was arrested last year after new DNA evidence was discovered.
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The mother, who previously went by the name Lee Ann Guerrette, gave birth to her newborn on 7 December, 1985 before leaving her to die in the cold.
And in a shocking turn of events, a Siberian Husky named Paca discovered the girl - who was named baby Jane Doe - and returned home with the dead infant in its mouth.
“I could not believe what I saw,” the dog’s co-owner, Armand Pelletier, told the Bangor Daily News in 2014.
“I saw what looked like a little rag doll, but then we saw it was a frozen little baby. This is something you don’t forget.
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“She kept pounding at the door’s window to get back in. She kept pounding, and after awhile, I went to go look.
“I saw the baby and I couldn’t believe it at first, I thought it was just a little doll, rubber doll that my dog had brought back to the house but the more I saw it the more I thought it was real.”
Maine State Police attended the scene and determined that the baby 'was born and then abandoned in below zero temperatures'.
A breakthrough finally arrived thanks to 'advancements in technology to include DNA and genetic genealogy', police said.
Daigle was then identified as the suspect and was arrested outside her home in Massachusetts on 13 June, 2022.
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“This baby was a perfect little baby,” Lorraine Pelletier told WCSH after the indictment. “I mean, she even had a little dimple. Just cute as a button.”
Police were able to inform her that her pet had done nothing wrong.
“I was afraid they were going to take my dog away, and they said, ‘No, we’re not gonna take your dog away. Your dog was trying to save this baby',” Lorraine added.
On Thursday (6 April), Daigle plead guilty to one count of manslaughter and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and $50,000 in fines.
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Her sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
Houlton Superior Court Judge, Rob Langner, said in court: “On or between Dec. 6 or 7, 1985, in the county of Aroostook, State of Maine, Lee Ann Daigle, formerly known as Lee Ann Guerette, date of birth 3/18/1964, did intentionally or knowingly cause the death of a human being known as baby Jane Doe, date of birth 12/6/1985 or 12/7/1985 or did engage in conduct that manifested a depraved indifference to the value of human life and which in fact caused the death of a human being known as Baby Jane Doe.”