Los Angeles police are still waiting for test results to determine the identity of the two mummified babies found in the basement of a Westlake apartment building last month, but new details have surfaced about the identity of the woman who last owned the trunk in which the babies were discovered.

"We’ve basically determined that the owner of the trunk was Janet Barrie," Juvenile Division Capt. Fabian Lizarraga told members of the press Thursday morning.

Besides the doctor’s bags that contained the babies, several other items were found in the trunk, including a photograph of Barrie standing with a 1928 Dodge automobile, newspapers from 1933 and 1935, and tickets to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. These items have helped investigators establish a rough timeline of Barrie’s life in Los Angeles.

By tracing marriage and death certificates and other legal documents, an LAPD investigative team concluded that Barrie was a Scottish immigrant who arrived in Los Angeles during the 1920s to take a job as a home care nurse working for Dr. George G. Knapp, a dentist. Barrie left Los Angeles for Canada in the 1980s and died shortly after moving.

Establishing a connection between Barrie and the babies has proved difficult because of the lack of witnesses in the long-dormant case.

"Everybody connected with the trunk or the apartment has passed on," Lizarraga said.

Some of Barrie's living relatives have voluntarily offered DNA samples to the LA County coroner’s office, which will test for genetic links between Barrie and the babies. An official from the coroner’s office said it has not been determined if the babies are related, but noted that there are no signs of visible trauma or abortion. Investigators have determined that one of the babies was a newborn infant, but the other may have been a fetus.

Barrie, who wed Dr. Knapp after his wife’s death, was also a member of the Peter Pan Mountain Club resort. This connection has fueled speculation that Barrie might be related to the creator of Peter Pan, Scottish author James M. Barrie. LAPD, however, is reluctant to comment on this possibility.

"This is a 78-year-old case that we’re dealing with. Theories are flying around," Lizarraga said.

LAPD and the coroner’s office are in agreement that the timeline of this case makes it an anomaly, even among unsolved cases. Neither official was able to think of an older cold case still under open investigation.

"This is the oldest one in my tenure," said Police Chief Charlie Beck said.

Pending the results of the DNA testing, LAPD will be faced with issues of proper repatriation and interment. Prosecution, however, is unlikely.

"The purpose of our investigation is to help and support the coroner’s office identify the remains and cause of death," Lizarraga said.

Beck stressed that the department is taking this case seriously.

"Justice, even when late, is still justice," he said. "These are human beings that deserve the effort of the police department." 

 

Reach contributor Patrick Bigsby here.