Woman charged with murder in 33-year-old Johnson County cold case

A woman has been arrested for murder after DNA testing connected her to a baby that was found dead in the Iowa City landfill in 1992.

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Cindy Sue Elder, 58, the mother of the unnamed child, is charged with first-degree murder. She was arrested in Missouri and is awaiting extradition to Johnson County.

The baby, referred to in police documents as Baby John Doe, was found on Dec. 21, 1992. He had been unknowingly picked up by a trash collector from trash receptacles near at apartment building at 712 Fifth St., Coralville.

He was a full-term newborn and had extensive blunt force injuries that appeared to be postmortem. The placenta was still attached and was wrapped around his neck, according to a criminal complaint.

An autopsy was performed after the baby was found, but the cause and manner of his death were ruled undetermined because “the lack of known circumstances surrounding the labor and delivery of this infant make it impossible at this time,” the criminal complaint states.

The investigation was reopened in 2020 because of advances in DNA technology. Elder — formerly known as Cindy Sue Eckrich — was identified through DNA testing as the baby’s mother.

Elder was most recently living in Clever, Mo. When police contacted her in 2022, she told them she gave birth in 1992 while living in an Iowa City residence. she was 26 at the time.

Elder told police she hadn’t wanted to be a parent and she hid her pregnancy from everyone, including the father of the child. She never visited a doctor to get prenatal care during the pregnancy, and attempted to induce a miscarriage by punching herself in the stomach, according to the complaint.

She gave birth to the baby in the basement of a residence in Iowa City, and she told police he was born alive and crying. She “did something” to keep the baby quiet so the resident of the house wouldn’t hear the crying, then put the baby in a bag, which she put in her trunk and dropped off at outdoor trash receptacles near her father’s apartment at 712 Fifth St., Coralville, the complaint states.

The father of the baby also was identified. He told police he was unaware that Elder had been pregnant or that she gave birth.

“This case exemplifies our commitment to crime victims, especially ones so vulnerable,” Iowa City Police Chief Dustin Liston said in a news release announcing Elder’s arrest. “I am grateful for the dedication, partnerships, and technological advances that have made this arrest possible.”

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