Indiana coach arrested in 1972 cold case murder of infant boy

This image, provided by the Porter County Sheriff's Department, shows Gary Warwick.

More than 40 years after a baby boy was found dead, an Indiana grandfather will appear in court, charged with the 1-year-old’s murder.

Gary Warwick, 62, is being charged by Illinois prosecutors in the Dec. 30, 1972, murder of Joseph Henry Abernathy III. He is expected to appear Monday at an extradition hearing in Porter County, Ind., where he was arrested last week.

Authorities allege Warwick was dating the child's mother, but is not the father of the child.

In 1973, Warwick was charged in the baby's death, but the case was dismissed the next year without explanation.

Investigators haven't revealed what led to the new charges. Local station KSDK reports that the infant's family had previously started a petition on Change.org and made a YouTube video called "Justice for Joey" in the hopes of reopening the case.

Warwick is an assistant coach at Purdue University North Central and helped start the Indiana Raiders softball program, where he is a full-time coach, according to the station.

It's unclear if Warwick, who is married with two daughters and three grandchildren, has an attorney. He's jailed in Illinois on $5 million bond.

Click for more on this story from KSDK.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.