Mother of 'Baby Skylar' infant found dead in Phoenix airport trash can arrested in cold case killing

A woman has been arrested in connection with the cold case killing of her newborn baby – known as "Baby Skylar" – who was found dead two decades ago in a trash can at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, police said Tuesday.

The infant was found dead on Oct. 10, 2005, inside a trash can in a Terminal 4 women's restroom at the airport, the Phoenix Police Department said. The baby was wrapped in newspapers and a towel, and stuffed in a plastic bag.

The child died by suffocation and the death was ruled a homicide. 

"The evidence on the scene indicated that the birth likely did not occur at the airport, and the bathroom is where the baby was abandoned by the suspects or the suspect," Phoenix Police Lt. James Hester said.

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A composite drawing of Annie Anderson, 51, who is accused of killing her infant in 2005 and dumping the child in an airport trash can in Phoenix.  (Phoenix Police Department / Fox Phoenix)

The child's mother, Annie Anderson, 51, was arrested last month in Washington state, where she lives, and is being held pending extradition to Arizona. At the time of the death, Anderson was in the Phoenix area to attend a "real estate boot camp," Hester said.  

Anderson allegedly admitted to being the child's mother, police said. Authorities declined to disclose what she said.

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"We do know who the father is but based on the totality of the investigation, we have no reason to suspect he has criminal culpability," Hester said. 

The investigation into the infant's death went cold and was unsolved for years as authorities hoped advances in technology would assist them in finding the killer. 

An outside view of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. ( Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.)

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In 2017, a tool called "Snapshot" used the child's DNA to create a composite sketch of the mother. Investigators then began using genetic genealogy, which led to a break in the case, police said. 

"Investigators cross-referenced the potential match with evidence originally collected at the scene and identified the probable mother of ‘Baby Skylar,’" authorities said.