Summary
In March 2020, a male infant was found by fishermen near the bank along the Melton Lake Greenway in Oak Ridge, TN, a part of the Knoxville Metropolitan area. Investigators described the infant as a 34-week-gestational-aged male. In addition, he appeared to have some some birth-related trauma to the right side of his head.
With no leads to his identity, the Oak Ridge Police Department named him "Baby Wyatt", meaning little warrior. The community came together to give him a funeral, and donated a wreath and a teddy bear. The details surrounding the case are not clear and in spite of pursuing all available leads, Baby Wyatt's true name remains unknown.
In 2021, the Oak Ridge Police Department and Knox County Regional Forensic Center parterned with Othram to use advanced forensic DNA testing to develop new investigative leads that might assist in identifying the infant or his family. Anyone with information that could aid this investigation is encouraged to contact the Oak Ridge Police Department at 865-425-4399 or via email at PoliceTips@OakRidgeTN.gov. A DNASolves fund has been established to cover the costs of testing for this case. The case has been logged in NamUs as UP68097.
Michael Vogen
Director of Case Management
Michael works with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada on “unsolvable“ cases that can benefit from advanced DNA testing methods. He helps these agencies use cutting edge DNA sequencing and new forensic techniques to develop investigative leads for their cases.