Jennifer Baechle: After 14 years, a woman has been arrested for murder of infant found in river
"Baby Angel" lived in the hearts of the community but answers about her death didn't emerge until 2023
Sharon Forst and her family spent Labor Day weekend boating down the Mississippi River in Winona, Minnesota. What should have been a cheerful outing on Sept. 5, 2011 quickly took a turn.
“My younger son said, ‘there’s a bag in the river’ and I said ‘ah, just leave it’ and he said ‘no, we should not leave trash in the river,’ so we maneuvered the boat over to pick it up,” Forst told News 8 Now in 2016.
“He said ‘mom, there’s a baby here’ and I said ‘Josh, that’s not even funny’ and I turned and looked at him and I could see by his face, it was something more that he wasn't being funny,” she continued. “I think our first thought was, ‘is she still alive?’ I tried to do CPR. It was pretty clear she was gone.”
A few other items had also been stashed in the bag before being thrown into the river: a pendant, incense, numerous angel figurines, a bracelet with an eye-shaped amulet, and a green T-shirt that reportedly had a slice of bread on it. The bag, a canvas tote one, had the word “Manzanillo” on it. This was the name of a Mexican resort town, News 8 Now notes.
The autopsy, conducted the day after, determined the infant had likely been birthed at full-term a day or two before Sharon’s son found her. The infant still had a four-inch section of umbilical cord connected, which the medical examiner believed had been cut with a sharp-edge instrument, but not by a medical provider.
“We believe the mother gave unassisted and unattended birth in this case. And it’s imperative that we identify her quickly so that we can make sure that she receives any medical or mental health services that she may need,” Senior Special Agent Drew Evans with the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said in a statement following the discovery.
The autopsy also revealed that the infant sustained several fractures to the front and side of her skull, with bleeding on the brain.
Investigators released photos of the items found with the baby girl, and followed more than 50 leads, but the infant’s identity remained unknown. No answers emerged, even after investigators traced one of the angel figurines to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a Catholic missionary group, revealing that the figurine had been sold in 2000 through a catalog.
“Baby Angel”: The nameless little girl adopted by a community
Despite her life being cut unfathomably short, investigators and the community ensured she wasn’t forgotten. The figurines with which she was found led to her being called “Baby Angel.” The Winona County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) organized a burial for her in April 2012, giving her the place to rest no one else did.
Winona County Sheriff’s Honor Guard members served as pallbearers to help lay her to rest in the Woodlawn Cemetery. In the years to follow, annual memorials were held to keep her memory and unsolved case alive. A memorial fund had also been formed to ensure fresh flowers could be placed at her grave each year on the anniversary of the discovery.
“The department kind of adopted her as part of our own. It’s what she deserves,” said Kraig Glover, who had been the lead investigator and the first officer on scene with the WCSO.
In 2012, cases such as Baby Angel’s prompted Minnesota lawmakers to consider updating the state’s safe haven laws, News 8 Now reported at the time. This would see the 72 hour time limit for mothers to drop of newborns at safe havens to increase to 30 days. It would also change where mothers could drop them off. As of 2012, they could only drop off their newborns at hospitals but lawmakers wanted to expand that to fire and police stations.
However, in 2025, the Minnesota Legislature site states that only hospitals, a “health care provider who provides urgent care medical services, or an ambulance service licensed under chapter 144E dispatched in response to a 911 call from a mother or a person with the mother’s permission to relinquish a newborn infant” are qualified safe havens.
The newborn also has to be left with an employee on the premises of the safe haven within hours of operation, and the infant had to be born within seven days of being left there and in unharmed condition. With this, the mother can anonymously leave her child at a safe haven without repercussions.
A heartbreaking case goes cold
Years would pass without anyone knowing the identity of Baby Angel. Those who investigated her death helped have her laid to rest, given a headstone, and memorials kept the memory of her death alive. Flowers arrived on her grave every year. But it seemed leads were scarce. No one came forward to claim this child as theirs, or to tell the story of her short little life.
It seemed no one besides her mother had ever even known she was born. All anyone knew of her was her death.
Her identity and death remained a mystery until March 2023, when investigators sought some help from Firebird Forensics Group. The non-profit organization assists law enforcement with identifying unknown human remains. They pulled through with Baby Angel when DNA samples from the infant pointed investigators towards a woman named Jennifer Baechle, News 8 Now reports, citing the arrest warrant.
In May 2023, investigators approached Baechle to request a voluntary DNA sample, but she told them she needed more time to consider doing so. After this, she communicated with deputies through a defense attorney.
Investigators then took the route of searching her trash to obtain a DNA sample, which they did upon collecting items like a discarded feminine hygiene product. When the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) conducted a DNA test, it determined that Baby Angel could be Baechle’s child.
Another search warrant forced Baechle’s hand into giving investigators a DNA sample in March 2024. The BCA did another test, which according to the warrant, was “570,000 times more likely to occur in a biological child of Defendant than in someone unrelated to Defendant,” indicating a high likelihood of a mother-daughter relationship.
In following up with Baechle’s family, investigators learned that Baechle hadn’t been in touch with them since 2011. She was 29 at the time and had lived in a van in Winona. Family members recognized items shown to them via photographs as belonging to Baechle. The blue pendant had been hers, they claimed, and she once collected angel figurines. Her family used to get them for her every Christmas.
One more DNA test confirmed that Baechle’s DNA was on an incense stick that had been left in the bag with Baby Angel.
An updated autopsy also got done in 2024, which, according to court documents, “concluded this ‘normally developed term female infant sustained injuries of the head while alive.’” These weren’t the type of injuries that would have occurred had a medical professional assisted in the child’s delivery, according to court documents.
The WCSO issued a press statement on April 24, 2025 announcing the arrest of 43-year-old Jennifer Nichole Baechle. She has been charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter.
“For more than 13 years, Baby Angel’s tragic death has weighed heavily on the hearts of this community,” said Winona County Sheriff Ron Ganrude in the statement. “We are grateful to be able to provide answers for this community and for Baby Angel.”
WLAX reports that Baechle was a faculty member at Winona State University. She had been hired this spring to serve as an adjunct faculty member. The university released a statement:
“Jennifer Baechle was hired to serve as an adjunct faculty member for spring semester 2025 at Winona State University, teaching one class in the English department. Effective immediately, another faculty member will teach this course for the remainder of the academic term.
Baechle has been hired intermittently for instructional work as an adjunct faculty, starting in August 2022.
This news is a shock to the Winona State University community, and our hearts go out to those involved.”
A judge has set Baechle’s bail at $200,000 with no conditions and $20,000 with conditions, ABC 6 reports.
Kurt Knuesel, her defense attorney, noted at the bail hearing that Baechle had been aware of a pending case against her since 2023 and made no attempts to flee. She also turned herself into the Winona County Jail within the same hour of a judge signing the arrest warrant.
On April 24, 2025, she posted the $20,000 bail and must comply with GPS monitoring and cannot leave the state of Minnesota without permission.
“The BCA confirmed Baechle is Baby Angel’s mother,” Ganrude said in a news conference. “Since then, we continued our investigation, attempting to learn everything about how Baby Angel died and why she was placed in the river. We don’t have all the answers, but we know who is responsible. Today’s charges are a first step in holding her accountable.”
Her next court hearing is July 7, 2025.
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Sources
News 8 Now