GREENVILLE COUNTY, SC (WSPA) – Sheriff’s Office officials confirmed a cold case involving an infant, who was found dead in a garbage bag in a wooded area in the county in 1989, is now linked to the homicide of another infant.
Investigators said the baby boy is the brother of the baby known as Julie Valentine.
Shortly after Greenville Police Department announced they had solved the high-profile Julie Valentine case — the case of a newborn whose body was found in an Upstate field 29 years ago — the sheriff’s office said they would be taking another look at a similar cold case.
In that case, a group of children found an infant dead in a garbage bag in the woods off Bear Drive in April 1989.
Greenville County deputies said Thursday they now believe Brook Graham, who is accused of killing her infant daughter, Julie Valentine nearly 30 years ago, also left another infant in the woods one year prior.
“Today, we were able to sign warrants and charge Brook Graham with unlawful conduct toward a child and also destruction of human remains for the death of what we have learned is Julie Valentine’s brother,” Lt. Ryan Flood said.
Graham, 53, was arrested back in April by police, who said they used DNA testing to identify her as Julie Valentine’s mother.
The baby girl was found dead in a field in a cardboard box back in 1990 by a man who was picking flowers.
After that announcement was made from police, sheriff’s office officials said they submitted evidence from a similar cold case that happened a year before Julie Valentine was discovered.
“It was the way that the body was wrapped in linens,” Flood said. “That fact that the two newborn babies still had umbilical cords attached to them.”
Based on DNA testing, sheriff’s office officials said they were able to confirm that the infant found near Bear Drive belonged to Graham and was Julie Valentine’s older brother.
“We submitted some evidence to SLED and, unfortunately, because of the advancements in technology and DNA, we were able to confirm that the DNA of the baby boy matched that of Brook Graham,” Flood said.
When this case was first opened investigators had no witnesses and very little information to go off of.
“All we had was that on the 13th of April, there was a dark-colored sedan that was seen around that area at around 11’oclock at night.” Flood said.
“The investigation was initiated, it almost went cold immediately,” he explained. “There just wasn’t anything. We didn’t have DNA evidence back then, we didn’t have anything to submit at the time, obviously for DNA, because it didn’t exist.”
Graham was in court for a bond hearing Thursday evening. The judge set her bond for $25,000 for unlawful neglect of a child and destruction of or the desecration of human remains. She is still being held without bond for the Julie Valentine case.
