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"Baby Hope" Update: NYPD reportedly identifies mother in 1991 child murder

Sketch of what "Baby Hope" might have looked like provided by the NYPD. CBS New York

(CBS) NEW YORK - Police say they have gotten a break in a 22-year-old case after identifying the mother of a child who was found in a cooler near a highway, a case that came to be known as "Baby Hope," reports CBS New York.

The body of the child was found decomposing in a cooler in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in 1991. This past July, police made a new push to track down information by offering a $12,000 reward. Soon after, a woman came forward saying she may have known Baby Hope's sister, according to The New York Times.

The paper reports after several interviews, police identified the mother by using DNA from the child's exhumed body. No charges have been filed and police have yet to release the mother's name.

Baby Hope was believed to be between 3 and 5 years old. Tests showed she was malnourished and had been sexually abused. The New York Times reports she was found  tied up and wrapped in a plastic bag, doubled-over inside the cooler.

Complete coverage of Baby Hope's case on Crimesider

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