Parents of baby found in trash 30 years ago arrested after DNA links them to remains, police say

More than 30 years after an infant’s remains were discovered in the trash, DNA has linked a North Carolina couple to the child, police said.

Authorities took Scott Gordon Poole, 54, and his wife, Robin Lynn Byrum, 51, into custody on Oct. 21 and booked them into the Dare County jail on a felony charge of concealing the birth of a child, WRAL-TV reported.

The pair are each being held on a $250,000 bond.

According to reports, the baby’s remains were discovered in a trash can rack in Nags Head on April 4, 1991. At the time, the body was in such an advanced state of decomposition that police were unable to identify the child’s gender.

According to WAVY-TV, as the years passed, detectives continued to try to identify the baby’s parents, and in 2019 they sent a rib bone fragment to a forensics lab and were able to create a genealogical profile with recovered DNA, which eventually led them to Poole and Byrum.

“The tragedy of this child’s death and the manner in which his body was disposed of is compounded by the fact that, until now, no one has been found responsible for this incredibly heartbreaking act,” Nags Head Police Chief Phil Webster said. “But through the hard work of Nags Head Police investigators and our law enforcement partners in the case, those who did this will be held accountable for a death that has remained unsolved for three decades.”

Authorities said additional charges may be pending in the case.