PLAIN CITY, Ohio (WCMH) – Nearly two years after an infant girl was found dead in the back of a Madison County garbage truck, one person has been formally charged.

According to the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office, a grand jury returned a single-count indictment against the mother of the baby for gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony. The suspect, Anuradha Manukonda, was charged on March 13, 22 months after the infant was found.

The Plain City Division of Police initially responded to the 100 block of Bluestem Lane after receiving a call from a refuse company on reports of a human body found in the rear hopper, or collection point, of a refuse truck. The Pleasant Valley Joint Fire District pronounced the baby, with the umbilical cord still attached, dead at 2:33 p.m. on June 15, 2023.

Authorities tied Manukonda to the baby’s death after she was identified, interviewed and subject to a DNA test, which confirmed her as the baby’s mother. She is accused of putting the infant’s body in an exterior trash can, which was later collected by the refuse company. She is not believed to live or work within Plain City or in Madison County.

“I know a lot of people think that this case should have been kind of an easy one, because one day a woman, a lady is pregnant, and then the next day she’s not. So what happened to the child?” Plain City police chief Dale McKee said. “This case was very difficult to prove because there’s no witnesses. Through our investigation, there is no evidence [the relatives in the home Manukonda was staying] had any knowledge of this. And I believe them.”

The Madison County Medical Examiner’s Office did not immediately release a cause of death. The prosecution’s office said that the delay in the discovery of the body and the injuries caused by the garbage truck compacter made it impossible to determine the time or cause of death.

“This isn’t like CSI on TV where it’s solved in 30 minutes,” McKee said. “I mean, this was a hard case to solve.”

There is no evidence support charges related to homicide, however, and at an arraignment hearing on Wednesday, Manukonda pleaded not guilty. Plain City police confirmed she was 24 at the time of the infant’s death.

“I just want them to know that they have to have trust in their law enforcement agency to know that we’re going to do everything possible to solve every crime, just not this, but every crime and to give us time,” McKee said.

“This case has been exhausting. It’s been worked on every single day since that incident happened.”

Residents of Plain City held a funeral for the baby, who was named “Madison” by the community, which included hundreds of cars following the funeral procession to Forest Grove Cemetery. A gravestone was donated by Longstreth Memorials.