FRANKLIN, Ind. (WOWO) — Police say they’ve identified the parents of “Baby Hope,” the infant girl found stabbed to death in a Franklin trash can in 1994. But no one has been arrested, and the case is still open.

The baby’s mother was Cheryl Dawn Larson, who passed away in 2018. The father, Paul Shepherd, didn’t know she had been pregnant. When police contacted him, he worked with investigators and gave a DNA sample. He later chose the name “Hope Shepherd” for the baby.

“This case has always stayed with this department,” said Police Chief Kirby Cochran. “While these aren’t all the answers we hoped for, we’re grateful to offer some resolution after so many years.”

Two boys were out at Temple Park when they found the baby in a trash can. She had been stabbed. Since no one knew who she was, police started calling her “Baby Hope.” People in the community stepped in to make sure she had a proper burial at Greenlawn Cemetery.

“We still have open questions,” Johnson County Coroner Mike Pruitt. “DNA is not going to answer those questions for us. If this stimulates any information, any thoughts that you can bring to law enforcement to help us bring complete closure to this case, that would be the biggest closing point.”

Police reopened the case in 2019 and used public DNA databases to track down the parents. Because the mother died before she could be questioned, investigators still don’t know what happened — and say charges could still be filed if new information comes in.

Police shared a statement from Paul Shepherd, saying he’s still struggling with the grief and that it’s made his health worse. He said the thought that his own child went through something so awful is something he just can’t shake.

The case remains under investigation.