ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
ThatsLife
  • WIN
  • News
  • Real Life
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Pets
  • Your Stars
  • Puzzles
  • Podcasts
  • Video
Subscribe
  1. Home
  2. Crime

Is this America's Keli Lane? Woman, 49, arrested on suspicion of murdering her newborn baby in 1993

The town has waited 26 years for answers. - by April Glover
  • 11 Jun 2019

In March of 1993, two papergirls in a small Ohio town named Geauga County found a tiny newborn boy on the side of a dirt road.

The baby boy - who was sadly deceased - still had his umbilical cord attached and had been crudely wrapped in a garbage bag.

Is this America's Keli Lane? Woman, 49, arrested on suspicion of murdering her newborn baby in 1993
Geauga Maple Leaf

A coroner later found the baby had been born alive, but there was no way of telling if he was dead at the time he was dumped. 

With no-one claiming the poor child's body, the child was unofficially adopted into the township and was sweetly named 'Geauga’s Child', even having it printed on his headstone.

'I always think about him,' one of the girls who found him, Cheryl Jenkins, told Cleveland19News last week. 'I’ve never forgotten that day. I mean, it’s burned in my memory.'

For 26 years, townspeople visited the grave of 'Geauga's Child' and paid their respects.

Police investigators even placed a hidden camera in the hope they could find the child's mother or father. But the case grew cold.

clevelanddotcom on Twitter

As forensic science advanced, police decided to use DNA testing to try and locate a familial match for the child, using blood and tissue samples taken in 1993.

Using an online database, investigators were led to 49-year-old receptionist Gail Eastwood-Ritchey, who was married with three children and lived in Cleveland. 

Last Thursday, Eastwood-Ritchey was officially charged with one count of aggravated murder and another count of murder. 

'At that time, she admitted that she had birthed a child, placed him in a trash bag and left him in a wooded area,' Geauga County sheriff Scott Hildenbrand said.

'Her statement was that she hid the pregnancy and that nobody knew she was pregnant.'

The News-Herald on Twitter

According to the county sheriff, Eastwood-Ritchey also allegedly admitted to disposing of another newborn baby in 1991. 

The father's child is believed to be her current husband.

Eastwood-Ritchey appeared in court on Monday and plead guilty to the charges. If convicted, she may face a life sentence. 

The case is eerily similar to Australian woman Keli Lane, who was found guilty in 2010 of murdering her baby daughter Tegan in 1996.

April Glover

Subscribe to That's Life!-+ save!

Subscribe to That's Life!

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life!

Subscribe to That's Life!-+ save!

Subscribe to That's Life!

Subscribe Now
Subscribe to That's Life!

Recommended to you

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis
Watch 0:37

There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis

{headline}

{headline}

Convicted baby killer Keli Lane claims her daughter is ALIVE

Convicted baby killer Keli Lane claims her daughter is ALIVE

I Helped Free An Innocent Man

I Helped Free An Innocent Man

Hedley Thomas: I pursued a killer

Hedley Thomas: I pursued a killer

I found out my birth mother was killed by serial killers

I found out my birth mother was killed by serial killers

{headline}

{headline}

She forgave her mum's killer then he murdered her too!

She forgave her mum's killer then he murdered her too!

Killer hubby kept his first wife in the garage

Killer hubby kept his first wife in the garage

Could this CAR SOLVE my sister’s MURDER?

Could this CAR SOLVE my sister’s MURDER?

{headline}

{headline}

Teen's reunion horror: She found her dad then he murdered her!

Teen's reunion horror: She found her dad then he murdered her!

Son's revenge: He rigged the house with explosives

Son's revenge: He rigged the house with explosives

30-year cold case: How a Coke can caught a killer

30-year cold case: How a Coke can caught a killer

Mum turned detective and found out the killer was her own son

Mum turned detective and found out the killer was her own son

Serial killer Ted Bundy's stepdaughter speaks out

Serial killer Ted Bundy's stepdaughter speaks out

Christmas Eve Nightmare: Mum stabbed as she prepared the turkey

Christmas Eve Nightmare: Mum stabbed as she prepared the turkey

Pregnant mum hacked to death during family holiday

Pregnant mum hacked to death during family holiday

ThatsLife
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy
ThatsLife Magazine Subscribe
  • Gold Club
  • Online Entry FAQ
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms
  • Competitions
  • Privacy Policy

Brands

  • New Idea
  • Who
  • Girlfriend
  • Practical Parenting

Our Network

  • Better Homes and Gardens
  • BHG Shop
  • marie claire
  • Beauty Crew
  • Women's Weekly Food
  • Bounty Parents
  • Home Beautiful
  • Hard to Find
  • Australian Women's Weekly
© 2023 Are Media PTY LTD
All products are independently selected, tested or recommended by our team of experts. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission. Are Media and its brands may have generated text partially using generative AI. Upon generating draft language, our editors review, edit, and revise it to their own liking. We take ultimate responsibility for the content of our publications.
Get more from

Magazine Subscription Offer

Subscribe to That's Life!-+ save!

Shop This Offer
Subscribe to That's Life!