DODGE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The case of “Baby Theresa” — an unknown baby whose body was found in 2009 — has been solved.
Dodge County authorities said Friday that DNA samples from the baby helped them track down the girl’s mother. They used DNA from genealogy services to narrow down the baby’s likely relatives.
DNA test results identified the mother as Karin Luttinen of Milwaukee, and her partner as the baby’s father. She is charged with concealing the death of a child. Tests determined the baby was likely stillborn.
Luttinen, 45, made an initial court appearance Friday, where a $2,500 cash bond was set, and subsequently posted. A preliminary hearing was waived but no arraignment date was set because she asked for a change in judge.
“Baby Theresa” was found April 29, 2009, in the town of Theresa. Her body was found in a bag about three miles from what is now Interstate 41.
According to the criminal complaint, investigators talked to Luttinen in March 2021. She admitted giving birth at home, but said she was in denial that she was pregnant. She said she put the baby’s body in a garbage bag and then drove “aimlessly” on what was then U.S. Highway 41. She found a wooded area and left the baby’s body in the bag there, she told investigators.
About a month after the baby was discovered, community members paid for her burial and held a funeral for her.
