An Illinois garbage truck driver was aghast when in 2003, he discovered two deceased infant boys in a garbage can while operating the front lift of the truck.
Apparently, the twins had been disposed of in the trash in an effort to hide their bodies but for many years — authorities were puzzled as to who they were or why someone would put them there.
But since, authorities believe they may have found the missing piece. Antoinette Briley, 41, was arrested in Michigan and charged with the deaths of both children, whom police say she killed after secretly giving birth.
Briley is now 41 years old and living in Holland, Michigan. Rewind 17 years ago, and she was just a normal 24-years-old. Or so it seemed…
Investigators believe that Briley was keeping her pregnancy a secret from most of her family and friends as she had no intention of keeping the twin boys.
At the beginning of the month, Briley was arrested last week after a traffic stop near her home. But being stopped was not a coincidence.
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Illinois police had reopened the cold case in 2018, unbeknownst to Briley. And thanks to intensive detective work as well as advancements in DNA research, they were able to trace the infants back to her, proving she was their biological mother.
After she was apprehended, Briley allegedly confessed to the crime.
Briley informed police that on June 6, 2003, she went into labor at her grandfather’s home, where she was living at the time. But instead of calling 911 or asking a relative to drive her to the hospital, she decided to lock herself in a bathroom and gave birth alone in the bathtub.
It was when the infants were crying in her arms that Briley said she began to panic. Briley then claimed to have loaded the infants into the car to take them to a hospital, but as she did not have a car seat or carrier to protect them, she placed them inside a duffle bag.
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Suddenly, the mother decided to change her mind as she was driving.
She pulled over on a road in Stickney Township, Illinois — where Briley claimed to have spotted a garbage can in a nearby alley. After removing the babies from the duffle bag, she placed them one at a time inside the garbage can before driving away. One of them was still attached to the placenta.
Briley then returned to her grandfather’s house and tossed the duffle bag, according to her police interview. She then watched TV for multiple hours and went to bed.
Briley, who now has a daughter, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths. She is being held on a $15,000 bond.