More than four years after the body of an infant was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean in South Florida, investigators have arrested her mother in connection with her death.
Arya Singh, 29, has been identified as the baby's mother and has been arrested on a first-degree murder charge, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office officials said Thursday.
Singh, of Boynton Beach, was booked into jail and being held without bond, records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
Authorities spent years trying to identify the infant, known as “Baby June" because her body was found on June 1, 2018.
An off-duty Boynton Beach firefighter had been aboard a charter boat near the Boynton Beach Inlet when he saw the body and called authorities.
"When you're in law enforcement, the men and women of law enforcement always think they're tough and they've seen it all, but I guarantee you when you seen an infant, a newborn infant, floating in the ocean that somebody has discarded like a piece of trash, it tugs at your heart," Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.
U.S. & World
Stories that affect your life across the U.S. and around the world.
A medical examiner ruled the case a homicide shortly after the baby was found. Detectives initially believed she was born in a medical facility but it was later determined she was born in a hotel room bathroom.
Investigators worked on the case for years and a reward reached $10,000 but after several tips went nowhere, it was given to cold case detectives.
"We were starting to look like we were heading to a dead-end," Palm Beach Sheriff's Capt. Steven Strivelli said.
DNA testing eventually led detectives to the baby's father, who said his girlfriend at the time told him she was pregnant but had "taken care of it," which he assumed meant she'd had an abortion, officials said.
Once the father was eliminated as a suspect investigators focused on Singh and were able to obtain a covert DNA sample from her that determined she was the baby's mother, authorities said.
It was discovered Singh had given birth to the girl on May 30, and GPS data and cell phone records showed she was at the inlet on that day, authorities said. About 40 hours later, the baby's body was discovered.
Investigators said Singh claimed she didn't know she was pregnant up until she gave birth, and that after she gave birth she wasn't sure if the baby was alive or dead. By the time the baby went into the inlet she was already dead, detectives said.
Singh allegedly put the baby in a backpack and left the backpack in her car while she attended a class at Florida Atlantic University. After the class, she dumped the baby's body, authorities said.
"She says she didn't know she was pregnant. She wasn't feeling well. She went to a hotel room, she didn't want to stay home so people wouldn't ask her questions about what was going on," Det. Brittany Christoffel said. "She had the baby in the hotel room bathroom. She didn't know she was pregnant until she saw the baby come out. She said the baby landed in the water and she passed out and didn't pick up the baby or check on her at all."
After dumping the baby, Singh kept an eye out for information on the case in the news.
"She searched local news for days and the month after. She did see the first articles on June 1st, so she did know about that and hasn't come forward all this time," Christoffel said.
Until recently Singh had worked as Lynn University in the campus safety department.
“We were shocked to learn about the charges against Ms. Singh and have ended her employment. We can confirm she has been a Lynn University dispatcher since July 2021," a university spokesperson said in a statement.
