PHOENIX — Phoenix police say an arrest has been made in an 18-year-old cold case involving the death of a newborn baby girl who was suffocated and abandoned at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.
Officials say detectives began an investigation on Oct. 10, 2005, after a baby, just 24 hours old, was found dead and wrapped in a hotel bag in a woman's restroom at Sky Harbor.
Phoenix police gave an update on this case Tuesday afternoon. Watch in the player below:
The child became known as "Baby Skylar" and the case was eventually worked by the FBI Phoenix Violent Crime Task Force.
"In November of 2021, the FBI and Phoenix Police cold case detectives reviewed existing evidence and utilized Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) to help identify a potential maternal match for the newborn victim. Investigators cross-referenced the potential match with evidence originally collected at the scene and identified the probable mother of Baby Skylar," said a press release Monday.
Police say 51-year-old Annie Anderson admitted she was the mother of Baby Skylar to investigators in Washington. Anderson allegedly detailed what happened leading up to Baby Skylar being left at the airport and admitted to her actions. Those details have not been released.
A Maricopa County Grand Jury issued an arrest warrant for Anderson.
Court documents obtained by ABC15 show Anderson was arrested at her home in Arlington, Washington.
The 51-year-old was arrested for multiple charges, including first-degree murder and abandonment or concealment of a dead body.
She is being held by Snohomish County Sheriff's Office who helped with her arrest.
Staff with the prosecutor's office in Snohomish County told ABC15 Anderson is fighting her extradition. Currently, Anderson's next court date is set for March in Washington.
ABC15 has confirmed the Maricopa County Attorney's Office has sent extradition paperwork to Governor Katie Hobbs. On February 26, ABC15 confirmed Hobbs signed the papers and they have been sent to Washington.
"I was deeply entrenched in this with my team I think we all were," said former cold case detective with Phoenix Police Troy Hillman.
Hillman and his team worked on the Baby Skylar case from 2015 until 2021 when he retired. He says the search for a laptop on Oct.10, 2005, is what led to the discovery of Baby Skylar.
"I think you had this huge response of house cleaners and different staff looking for that laptop," said Hillman.
"I always said never give up," said Hillman. "We would eventually track down the mother. and she would have said something to somebody or we would have the scientific means to kind of propel us forward."
Police said Tuesday that they do not believe that the father of Baby Skylar had any involvement in the crime.
