Woman's DNA test leads to grandmother's arrest after unravelling 27-year-old unresolved murder

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A woman who took a DNA test for fun was left stunned when her results linked her to an unsolved murder from 1997—leading to her grandmother’s arrest by police.

Jenna Gerwatowski, 23, decided to order a FamilyTreeDNA kit after one of her friends received the test as a Christmas gift. Not long after, she received a call from an unknown number while working a shift at her local flower shop in Newberry, Michigan. Though Jenna typically ignores such calls, something prompted her to answer this time.

On the other end of the line was a detective from the Michigan State Police, who asked her, “Have you heard of the Baby Garnet case?” The question left Jenna bewildered. The case, which dated back to 1997, had shaken the small community when the body of a deceased baby was discovered in a campground pit toilet at Garnet Lake Campground—near where Jenna grew up.

Investigators had been unable to identify the baby or find witnesses, and the case went cold. But decades later, the detective informed Jenna that her DNA had been a match, indicating she was related to the deceased infant. According to court documents, detectives had reopened the case in 2017 and worked with a forensics company to extract DNA from Baby Garnet’s partial femur.

When Jenna shared the news with her mother, Kara Gerwatowski, she was met with skepticism. Kara suspected it might be a scam, especially since Jenna’s grandfather had recently been targeted by someone posing as a detective. Kara warned Jenna not to share personal information or passwords, reports t he Mirror.

Later that evening, Jenna received another call—this time from Misty Gillis, a senior forensic genealogist and cold case liaison from Identifinders International. Gillis requested Jenna’s FamilyTreeDNA login credentials to upload her DNA to another database. Convinced it was a scam, Jenna refused and hung up the phone, thinking, What a bizarre thing to scam someone about.

A week later, Jenna’s mother called her in a panic while she was at work. “You need to come home right now—it’s an emergency,” Kara said. Jenna rushed home to find her mother sitting at the kitchen table with Jenna’s cousin. Police had contacted the cousin to explain the Baby Garnet situation. “My mom had tears in her eyes,” Jenna said. “And my cousin was in complete shock. You could hear a pin drop.”

According to court records, Jenna’s DNA test revealed she was the half-niece of Baby Garnet. Kara, who later agreed to provide her own DNA, was found to be Baby Garnet’s half-sister. Jenna said this revelation caused her mother to connect the dots. Kara told detectives, “If it’s going to be anyone, it would be my mother.”

Kara, 42, hadn’t spoken to her mother, Nancy Gerwatowski, since she was 18, as their relationship had been strained. This also meant Jenna had never met her grandmother. “I had known about the Baby Garnet case my whole life,” Jenna said, “but to find out my grandma was involved? It was shocking.”

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The Michigan attorney general’s office alleges that Nancy delivered the baby alone at her home in Newberry. They claim the baby died from asphyxiation—a death that could have been prevented if Nancy had sought medical intervention.

However, Nancy’s defence team argues she unexpectedly gave birth while in the bath and that the baby became trapped in the birth canal. According to her attorneys, Nancy lost consciousness during the delivery, and by the time she managed to deliver the baby, it was already dead.

The defence also states that in 1997, Nancy had no access to a telephone or cell phone and was unable to call for help. She admits to placing the stillborn baby in a bag and leaving it at the campground, but her attorneys argue she was in shock and in extreme pain following the traumatic birth.

Nancy now faces charges of open murder, which carries a potential life sentence, as well as involuntary manslaughter and concealing the death of an individual. Her defence team has argued for the case to be dropped, claiming the state cannot prove the baby was born alive. They also requested that any statements Nancy made during police interrogations be dismissed, citing a violation of her right to counsel.

The prosecution argues that Nancy’s comments about considering an abortion and failing to seek prenatal care are relevant to establishing motive.

Judge Brian D. Rahilly is expected to decide by the end of the year whether the charges against Nancy will proceed.

Reflecting on the experience, Jenna said, “It’s been incredibly hard and traumatising. I’ve never met this woman, so it’s hard to even comprehend—but for my mom, it’s even harder because this is her mother.”

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