Judge Approves Burial for Newborn Found Dead at Electric Forest

A Michigan judge has approved a volunteer's plan to bury the unidentified baby girl found dead in a portable toilet at Electric Forest in June, selecting Georgetown Cemetery in Jenison as the burial site.

Two Volunteers Petition the Court

The ruling came after two people separately asked the court for the right to handle the child's funeral, according to local reports. Judge granted permission to Oceana County local Travis Byrnes to arrange the burial. Byrnes will cover every cost himself, according to the order, and he cannot seek repayment from the government, the baby's estate or any relatives who might one day come forward. He must also buy and install a permanent grave marker at his own expense once the court approves wording for an inscription.

The rival petition came from Leroy Strait, whose plan also offered a funeral service, a lasting burial plot and a marker, all without public money. Both of the proposed sites would leave investigators free to pursue the case if the girl is eventually identified, but Georgetown, the judge concluded, would be easier for relatives to reach should they wish to visit the grave someday.

Discovery at Double JJ Resort

A worker for the company that supplies the festival's portable toilets found the body on June 28, the final day of the event, while servicing units in a camping area at the Double JJ Resort. She was born alive and was viable at birth, Michigan State Police confirmed in July. She died after roughly one minute and was found with the placenta and umbilical cord still attached, according to a death certificate filed with the Oceana County Clerk's Office.

Investigation Continues

The baby's parents remain at large. Investigators have not said whether they believe the girl's mother attended Electric Forest or whether the birth happened elsewhere before her body was abandoned in the porta-potty. Detectives continue to field tips since the FBI joined the case and announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for the baby's death.

Should the baby be identified before the burial takes place, Byrnes' authority will be put on hold until the court rules again. If an identification comes afterward, relatives who hold legal authority over the remains may ask to have the child exhumed and reburied, as state law allows.