Franklin Police Identify Parents of ‘Baby Hope’ After 31 Years

FRANKLIN, Ind. — Police say they’ve identified the parents of “Baby Hope,” the infant girl found stabbed to death in a Franklin trash can in 1994. But no one has been arrested, and the case is still open.

The baby’s mother was Cheryl Dawn Larson, who passed away in 2018. The father, Paul Shepherd, didn’t know she had been pregnant. When police contacted him, he worked with investigators and gave a DNA sample. He later chose the name “Hope Shepherd” for the baby.

“This case has always stayed with this department,” said Police Chief Kirby Cochran. “While these aren’t all the answers we hoped for, we’re grateful to offer some resolution after so many years.”

Two boys found the stabbed baby in a Temple Park trash can. With no name, police called her “Baby Hope.” The community later gave her a proper burial at Greenlawn Cemetery.

“We still have open questions,” Johnson County Coroner Mike Pruitt. “DNA is not going to answer those questions for us. If this stimulates any information, any thoughts that you can bring to law enforcement to help us bring complete closure to this case, that would be the biggest closing point.”

Police reopened the case in 2019 and used public DNA to find the parents. Since the mother died before they could talk to her, they still don’t know what happened. Charges are still possible if new information comes in.

Police said Paul Shepherd is still grieving and that the pain has affected his health. He said he can’t shake the thought of what happened to his child.

The case remains under investigation.

Franklin Police Identify Parents of ‘Baby Hope’ After 31 Years  was originally published on wibc.com