Police have identified Baby Boy Doe’s biological mother as Rosamara Biscaino Arzate, who died by suicide in 2019. She is the primary suspect in this case.
ODESSA, Texas — The Odessa Police Department held a press conference on Friday on the 1996 cold case that NewsWest 9 previously covered as “The Basin’s Unsolved: The Baby with No Name”.
At approximately 7:50 a.m., on July 18, 1996, the Odessa Police Department was called to an alleyway between the 1300 block of Clifford Street and the 1300 block of Boatwright Street. There, they found a dead male infant inside a dumpster.
Police say the neighborhood was canvassed by officers for leads on the identity of the person who allegedly threw a dead baby in a dumpster.
An autopsy of Baby Boy Doe revealed he was born a full-term, healthy infant.
Authorities listed this case as a homicide.
Baby Boy Doe was buried at Sunset Memorial Gardens on July 22, 1996.
Detectives investigated dozens of tips and leads over the years with negative results.
In 2005, DNA testing for Baby Boy Doe was submitted to the University of North Texas. Police say no identity of the baby came up, but the boy’s DNA was compared to persons of interest over the following years, with negative results.
On September 3, 2020, OPD submitted biological evidence in this case to Bode Technology for a forensic genetic genealogy testing. Results found the identities of the biological parents of Baby Boy Doe.
Police have identified Baby Boy Doe’s biological mother as Rosamara Biscaino Arzate, who died by suicide in 2019 before the forensic genetic genealogy investigation. OPD said next of kin has been notified of this information, and the victim’s remains were turned over to the Ector County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Authorities have named Arzate as the primary suspect. However, this remains a homicide investigation.
The OPD Cold Case Unit will continue to investigate other persons of interest.
If anyone has information about this murder, or information about Rosamara Arzate or her associates during the 1990s, you may contact the OPD Cold Case Unit directly at 432-335-4926 or you may submit tips anonymously to Odessa Crime Stoppers by calling 432-333-8477 or by visiting their website at 333tips.org.
The full press conference can be viewed here.
