A 23-year-old TikTok user, Jenna Rose, has gone viral after sharing a jaw-dropping story about how a casual AncestryDNA test ended up cracking open a 27-year-old cold case. The test led to the arrest of Rose’s grandmother, Nancy Ann Gerwatoski, who now faces life in prison for her alleged role in the infamous ‘Baby Garnet’ case from 1997.

Jenna Rose had no idea that her $99 DNA test would do anything but fill in the blanks about her family tree. Having never met her maternal grandmother, Nancy Ann Gerwatoski, Rose only learned her name at 15, after years of estrangement between her mother and grandmother. So when a police officer called the TikToker a year after she submitted her sample, claiming that her DNA was linked to a 27-year-old case, she assumed it was a scam.

“[The officer] said, ‘I just want to let you know I reopened a cold case from 25 years ago… and your DNA is a direct match to the victim,’” Rose recounted on TikTok. She was sceptical at first, even more so when the officer tried to connect her with a “worldwide database expert.” It all felt surreal—until it didn’t.

Soon after, Rose’s mother urged her to return home. When she arrived, the pieces began to fall into place. A cousin confirmed the investigation’s legitimacy, and follow-up tests revealed an even closer connection: Rose’s mother’s DNA directly implicated Gerwatoski as the suspect in the Baby Garnet case.

“Mind you, I’ve never met this woman before,” Rose said in her TikTok video. “She is literally the fucking person they’ve been looking for 25 years. And it’s all because of a fucking AncestryDNA kit.”

@__jennarose__

sorry this video is so long, but thank you if you stuck around to watch the whole thing. its time we start talking. #foryou #foryourpagetiktok #fyppp #foryourpage #fyp #truecrime #ancestrydna #ancestry #michigan

♬ original sound - jennarose🧿🪬

The case, known in Michigan as the “Baby Garnet” tragedy, has haunted the small village of Newberry for decades. As reported by the Michigan Department of Attorney General, in 1997, the remains of a newborn baby were found abandoned at the Garnet Lake Campground. Investigators determined the baby had died of asphyxiation shortly after a home birth, and the mother never sought medical care. With no leads and no suspect, the case went cold—until one seemingly ordinary TikTok video blew the lid off a decades-old mystery, turning a family’s DNA test into a chilling revelation.

Shortly after, further DNA testing confirmed that Rose was distantly related to the suspect in the case. After her mother also agreed to submit her DNA for comparison, it was determined that Gerwatoski was the individual authorities had been seeking for decades.

According to state officials, “a lab received remains for testing in 2020, and by 2022, a DNA profile was developed and traced to a specific familial lineage.”

Nancy Ann Gerwatoski, who had been living quietly in Wyoming, was arrested in July 2022. She now faces charges that could put her behind bars for the rest of her life. Prosecutors allege that her failure to seek medical care for the newborn directly led to its death—a choice they argue could have been avoided. A 12 December 2024 hearing will determine whether evidence of her lack of prenatal care can be introduced in court, according to local news outlet WDIV.

The revelations have left the TikToker reeling. While she doesn’t condone her grandmother’s alleged actions, she’s grappling with the unintended consequences of her decision to take the test.

Rose’s story, shared on TikTok, has drawn millions of views. Many users have expressed disbelief over how a seemingly innocuous test could unravel such a dark secret. Some have also raised concerns about privacy and the unforeseen impact of DNA databases on families and individuals.

@__jennarose__

Replying to @Elux🤍Divine | TTSA thank you to everyone that has reached out and sent love our way. we appreciate it more than we can put into words, waking up this morning and seeing the progress we have made was breathtaking. we appreciate you all so much. thank you, thank you, thank you ❤️ #foryou #foryourpagetiktok #fyppp #foryourpage #fyp #michigan

♬ original sound - jennarose🧿🪬

This is why you should never use DNA test kits-let alone voluntarily cooperate w/investigations that don’t have warrants forcing you to do so-This is fucked

A woman is now going away for murder for a stillbirth that happened to her literally 27 yrs ago

Don’t give out your DNA https://t.co/ITsJvGeqxn

— Indigo 🐀 says Stop Cop City🧱 (@LostInIndigo) November 23, 2024

write:

Rose, for her part, is planning to turn her experience into a documentary, giving her and her mother a platform to process the revelations and their implications. “This has been a rollercoaster,” she said in an update.

As the 23-year-old steps into her unexpected role in unravelling this decades-old investigation, you can bet Netflix is already gearing up, ready to turn this chilling story into its next hit crime documentary.