DNA tests prove the mummified remains of two infants found in a Los Angeles steamer trunk were the children of the nurse who abandoned the trunk.
The remains, which were wrapped in newspaper from the 1930s, were discovered in August by workers cleaning out an apartment building basement near MacArthur Park.
Investigators identified the owner of the trunk as Janet Barrie, a Scottish immigrant who was born in 1897 and worked as a nurse in Los Angeles before moving to Vancouver, where she died.
The Los Angeles Times reports Tuesday that DNA tests show Barrie was the mother of the infants. An autopsy determined there were no signs of trauma and the case has been closed.
Detectives tracked down Barrie's niece to get a DNA sample so that they could determine if there was a relationship between the babies and Barrie. Marlene Brown, from Alberta, Canada, cooperated fully and told investigators as much as she knew about her aunt.
The identity of the father and why the infants were kept in the trunk remain a mystery.
