Nags Head Police Department Teams with Othram to Identify a Baby Boy Found in 1991

Summary

In April 1991, Nags Head Police officers were dispatched to the 8600 block of East Tides Drive in south Nags Head in reference to human remains found in a trash can rack. Upon arrival, officers found the body of an infant who appeared to have been deceased for some time. At the scene, they were unable to establish Baby Doe’s gender due to advanced decomposition. According to the Pitt County Medical Examiner’s Office in Greenville, NC, the child died by blunt force trauma to the face and asphyxiation. The case was entered into NamUs as UP14018.

Over the years, Nags Head’s police investigators have examined and re-examined evidence in the case, working to understand the circumstances of the baby's death. In keeping with the ongoing commitment to unsolved cases, officers began a new investigation. Investigators contracted Othram in hopes that new genetic testing methods would generate leads to help identify the baby. A rib bone was sent to Othram and Othram's forensic scientists applied proprietary enrichment methods and Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to produce a genetic profile suitable for genealogical research. This profile was used in a genealogical search by the Othram genealogy team to produce new investigative leads that were turned over to investigators. Further investigation and DNA analysis by Nags Head Police led to a married couple living in Taylorsville, North Carolina. They were subsequently confirmed as the parents of the baby.

In October 2021, Nags Head's police investigators arrested two individuals in connection with this case. Scott Gordon Poole, and his wife, Robin Lynn Byrum, both of Taylorsville, North Carolina. An investigation into the circumstances of the baby's death continues.