Hope Shepherd was a newborn infant found stabbed to death in a trash can in Franklin, Indiana, in 1994.
She and her parents were identified in June 2025 with assistance from Parabon Nanolabs. While unidentified, she was referred to as "Baby Hope."
Case[]
Discovery[]
Shepherd's body was discovered inside a trash can located at Temple Park in Franklin, Indiana, on April 13, 1994, by two boys searching for aluminum cans. It was determined that she had been born alive, outside of a hospital, and was killed shortly before being found.
She was buried on April 22, 1994, at Greenlawn Cemetery in Franklin after residents donated money to pay for a funeral service.
Investigation[]
Police reopened the case in 2019 and later worked with Parabon Nanolabs to use preserved DNA samples in conducting genealogical research, which identified Shepherd's mother as Cheryl Dawn Larson, who died in 2018. In 1994, Larson lived near Temple Park with her husband Richard Noel Larson and would have been 31 years old when she gave birth to the infant.
Interviews conducted between investigators and individuals who knew Larson at the time identified Paul Richard Shepherd as the father, who had been briefly engaged in a relationship with her at some point. After being contacted, Shepherd voluntarily provided a DNA sample, which was used to confirm that he was the father of Baby Hope. Shepherd was not aware that he had had a child with Larson and is not believed to have been involved in the murder. He was given the chance to name the baby and chose "Hope Shepherd", combining the name the community had chosen for her with his own.
News of the infant's identification was announced at a press conference held by the Franklin Police Department in Greenlawn Cemetery on July 14, 2025. Authorities are still unsure who killed her, and the case remains an open investigation.
Gallery[]
