Jenna took a DNA test for fun. It accidentally put her family at the centre of a murder case.

They say that truth is stranger than fiction. And that certainly seems the case for a 23-year-old woman named Jenna Rose Gerwatowski who, after taking an Ancestry DNA test for fun, may have unknowingly unravelled a chilling, decades-old mystery.

In June 1997, the remains of a deceased infant were found in a campground pit toilet at the Garnet Lake Campground, in the Upper Peninsula's Hudson Township. An autopsy at the time determined the victim was a "term or near-term" baby girl of a gestational age of 36-42 weeks.

She died from asphyxiation, and became known as 'Baby Garnet'.

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While police investigated the death at the time, no witnesses or viable leads surfaced, and the case went cold. Little did detectives know that almost 30 years later, Jenna would accidentally reopen the mystery.

One year after taking a DNA test for fun, Jenna received a call from a detective.

"I start freaking out, she shared on TikTok. "He said he'd reopened the cold case from 25 years ago and [my] DNA is a direct match to the victim of this case."

It was the Baby Garnet case.

Disbelieving at first, Jenna thought it was a scam. But she eventually realised the authorities were the real deal. They then took DNA from Jenna's mother for follow-up testing.

"They ended up finding that it wasn't a distant relative to my mum but a direct relative. And the only other person that it could have been was my mum's mother," she said.

Authorities informed her that her DNA not only linked her to Baby Garnet — who would have been Jenna's aunt — but also led them to her grandmother, Nancy Ann Gerwatowski.

"They did their own investigating and figured out that's who it was. So, we were mind blown," Jenna continued.

"I've never met my grandmother. I didn't even know her name until I was 14 or 15 years old.

"She is literally the person that they have been looking for for the past 25 years. And it's all because of a f**king Ancestry DNA kit. Everything kind of unfolded from there."

Gerwatowski, 61, was arrested in July 2022. She was charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and concealing the death of an individual after she confirmed she was indeed the mother of the victim.

The state alleged that Nancy had delivered the newborn by herself at her home in Newberry, and did not seek medical intervention to save the child's life. Rather, they claimed, she chose to hide the body at the campground "more than 20 miles out of town", where a worker later found the child.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel credited advancements in genetic testing for helping finally solve the mystery. Genetic genealogy uses DNA from genealogical databases like Ancestry.com and 23andMe. These databases, which contain millions of DNA profiles, have become an invaluable resource for investigators.

"Thanks to the incredible efforts of investigators across three decades, we are finally able to pursue justice for Baby Garnet more than 25 years after her tragic death," Nessel said.

"In 1997, genetics testing was nowhere near as sophisticated as it is today, and I am grateful for the work of detectives and responders on-scene to preserve vital evidence in this matter."

Nessel added that local detectives "never gave up on justice for this infant victim".

"Prosecutors in my office are able to bring about this long-delayed criminal trial because of 27 years of sound police work, scientific advancement, evidence preservation, and diligent state and local detectives," she said.

Gerwatowski, who now resides in Wyoming, was released on a personal recognisance bond in October 2023. During a pre-trial hearing, her case and criminal history were reviewed. A judge set her free but ordered her to remain under home confinement and wear a GPS tracking device.

Earlier this year, the Michigan Department of Attorney General announced the 61-year-old will stand trial for the crime. She is expected to appear before the 11th Circuit Court in Mackinac County in December this year for a motion hearing.

If convicted, she faces up to life in prison.

Feature Image: TikTok/@__jennarose__.