Woman arrested on murder charges in death of 'Baby Garin' 30 years ago is being held on $1 million bail.

A woman identified as the mother of an infant boy found dead in a red paper bag on a rural road in Las Lomas nearly 30 years ago is in custody in the Monterey County Jail on $1 million bail, as of Friday, Oct. 18.

Just the day before, Pamela Ferreyra, 60, was taken into custody at her home in Watsonville without incident, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office in a press conference held hours later. She was identified through an extensive forensic genealogy process using DNA, according to Sheriff's spokesperson Andres Rosas.

The baby was found dead on Dec. 3, 1994, on Garin Road in Las Lomas by someone out looking for recyclables. Inside a paper bag they "saw something nobody ever wants to find," Rosas told reporters. 

The boy was fully dressed in a diaper, turquoise sleeper suit, blue jumper, white T-shirt and a stocking-style cap, Rosas said. The baby was wrapped in a blanket with blue and pink stripes. 

An autopsy determined he was several days old when he died, but no cause of death was determined, Rosas said. The pathologist on the case also determined that the baby was "viable" when he died, and not stillborn.

Officials named the boy "Baby Garin" after the road where he was found.

Investigators at the time were unable to come up with any leads and the case went cold.

In 2020, Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni created the Cold Case Homicide Team and began working with the Sheriff's Office and other police departments with cold cases, said Deputy District Attorney Matt L'Heureux.

Early last year the task force and Sheriff's department teamed up to investigate Baby Garin's case, sending forensic evidence to the California Department of Justice Forensic Lab. The evidence was forwarded to a Texas-based lab, Othram, which produced a DNA profile that could be used for forensic genetic genealogy. In the last several years it's been used by law enforcement to track down suspects, including the Golden State Killer, identified as Joseph James DeAngelo, who plead guilty to 13 murders in 2020.

The DNA profile created by Othram was then sent to a genealogy company called Solved by DNA in Colorado. That company was able to provide investigative leads for the team to follow up on. They conducted interviews and obtained DNA samples which ultimately led to Ferreyra, Rosas said.

Deputies pulled up to Ferreyra's Watsonville home at 7:16am Thursday, Oct. 17, and served her with an arrest warrant. She was taken to Monterey County Jail and booked on one count of 187(a), murder.

Despite the fact that the autopsy could not rule on a cause of death, Rojas said investigators gathered "sufficient facts" to move ahead with a charge of murder. "Additional details will come out with court proceedings," he said.

Ferreyra was in court on Friday afternoon and then returned to jail. She does not have an attorney listed in court records.

Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto was unable to attend the press conference but issued a statement noting that it was a "sad situation all around." She said they named the baby Garin, "not only for the area where he was found but also because we stand as guardians for our community. The name Garin means 'protection.' Every child deserves protection and people to advocate and seek justice for them."