FBI Offers $15,000 Reward for Information in Case of Newborn Found Dead at Electric Forest Festival

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $15,000 for information that helps identify or lead to the arrest of whoever is responsible for leaving a deceased newborn inside a portable toilet at a Michigan music festival last month.

Michigan State Police announced the reward in a statement shared Monday, July 13, confirming that investigators continue working to determine the circumstances surrounding the infant's death and that the FBI has become involved in the case. According to the statement, the reward is meant to help investigators identify and ultimately secure the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible.

The newborn's body was discovered inside a portable toilet at the Electric Forest Festival in Rothbury, Michigan, late last month. An employee of the company that services the festival's restroom units found the body while performing routine maintenance on June 28. The unit in question was located within the festival's campground area.

Investigators have released relatively few details about the case so far. In Monday's update, however, Michigan State Police disclosed that preliminary autopsy findings indicate the newborn was viable and had been born alive. Beyond that, authorities said they're intentionally withholding further specifics in order to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.

Police reiterated their commitment to pursuing the case fully, expressing confidence that continued investigative work, paired with forensic evidence, will eventually lead to identifying the person responsible for the infant's death.

The discovery adds to what has already been a difficult year for the festival, which saw a second troubling incident unfold around the same time. Another attendee, 28-year-old Jerard Jackson, was reported missing following the event on July 29, and his body was later found in a wooded area near the festival grounds. Police have said they found no indication of foul play in Jackson's death and believe he died by suicide, though that investigation also remains active.

Together, the two cases have cast a shadow over what is typically one of the larger annual electronic music festivals in the Midwest, drawing thousands of attendees to the rural festival grounds each summer. Neither case has resulted in an arrest or a named suspect at this point, and both remain under active investigation by Michigan State Police, with federal involvement now confirmed in the newborn case specifically.

Anyone with information related to the newborn's death is being urged to come forward, with the reward intended as an incentive for tips that could move the investigation toward a resolution. Michigan State Police have not indicated a timeline for when additional details might be released, citing the sensitivity of the ongoing inquiry and the need to preserve evidence and witness credibility as the case continues to develop.

As of Monday's update, no further announcements had been made regarding either case, and officials have not said whether the two incidents are believed to be connected in any way.

Both remain separate, active investigations being handled by the same state police unit overseeing security and law enforcement response at the festival.