Haley Walters | The Greenville News

Haley Walters, The Greenville News

Since 1989, authorities had been unable to piece together the circumstances that led to the discovery of a lifeless newborn boy in a patch of woods in Greenville County.

On Thursday, Greenville County Sheriff's Office deputies said Brook Graham, the mother of "Julie Valentine," a baby girl who was found dead and abandoned in a field in 1990, is connected to that boy, who was also abandoned and found dead a year prior.

Graham, 53, was charged Thursday in connection to the infant's remains, found in the woods near Bear Drive in Greenville County on April 15, 1989. The newborn boy was discovered to be the brother of the baby that came to be known as "Julie Valentine," the Greenville County Sheriff's Office said in a press release.

An inquiry from The Greenville News sparked the re-opening of the investigation.

Graham was arrested and charged last month in connection with the 1990 death of Valentine, whose body was found in a field near Verdae Boulevard in the city of Greenville. Police used DNA evidence to ultimately arrest Graham.

PROVIDED/Greenville Police Department

Following news of the arrest, The Greenville News inquired about the unsolved infant death on Bear Drive. The Greenville County Sheriff's Office reopened its investigation and found striking similarities between the two cases, according to a statement from the Sheriff's Office.

"I am extremely grateful for the hard work of our investigators, the shared information from The Greenville News and our continued partnership with the Julie Valentine Center, who brings cases involving children to the forefront and grants them a voice that would otherwise go unheard," Sheriff Johnny Mack Brown said in a prepared statement.

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Investigators sent evidence to the State Law Enforcement Division for DNA testing. They confirmed there was a DNA match between the infant boy and Brook Graham, who was already in custody, according to the Sheriff's Office.

During the initial investigation in 1989, the medical examiner could not conclude that the baby was born dead or alive, the Sheriff's Office said, so Graham has been charged with unlawful neglect of a child and destruction or desecration of human remains in connection with the death of the boy.

SABRINA SCHAEFFER/Staff

The infant boy was found by a group of young girls who were playing in a wooded area off Bear Drive in Greenville County. The baby's body was wrapped in bedding and a garbage bag.

An autopsy determined the baby had been dead three to seven days when his body was found, according to reports in The News at the time. The baby appeared to be full-term, and his organs were developed, the Coroner's Office said at the time.

As for Julie Valentine, police estimate she was born on Feb. 10, 1990, and abandoned immediately after birth. Police said Graham drove the baby to an overgrown area beside a field where a couch and other debris were discarded. An autopsy determined the baby was breathing outside of the womb before she died.

Graham has been charged with murder in that case.

SABRINA SCHAEFFER/Staff

The circumstances described by investigators would indicate Graham became pregnant with Valentine soon after the abandonment of the baby boy.

Through the years, Julie Valentine has become a symbol for child-abuse prevention. A Greenville-based organization called the Julie Valentine Center was established to serve child-abuse survivors. Police officers at the time raised money to install a plaque in Valentine's honor at Woodlawn Memorial Park. A heart-shaped sculpture in Cleveland Park also honors her memory.

Graham appeared at a bond hearing for the new charges Thursday night. She spoke only directly to the judge when he asked her questions and leaned against the wall as she listened to him explain the charges.

Her bond was set at $15,000 for unlawful neglect of a child and $10,000 for desecration of human remains. Bond for the previous murder charge was denied, so she will remain in custody.

View | 25 Photos

Julie Valentine: Old crime scene photos from infant death investigation