A Pennsylvania woman allegedly gave birth to an unwanted baby, abandoned the newborn in a field to die, and then headed off to work.
Jordyn Kauffman, 20, is facing multiple charges — including first-degree murder, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, concealing the death of a child, and abuse of a corpse — according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime. She is currently being held without bail at the Mifflin County Prison.
On May 14, at around 9:30 a.m., Kauffman gave birth to a baby girl at her home in McVeytown, Pennsylvania, according to charging documents obtained by PennLive. She allegedly held her daughter for roughly 30 minutes, watching the newborn move her hands, before placing the child outside the home.
Investigators say the baby was still breathing when she was left behind.
Kauffman then walked back inside and headed to work a couple of hours later. She reportedly admitted afterward that she knew what she had done was wrong, but feared her father would disown her if he ever found out she had been pregnant.
The following day, Kauffman’s father drove her to Geisinger Lewistown Hospital in Lewistown, Pennsylvania — about 12 miles away — after finding her bleeding at home. Despite this, Kauffman allegedly told hospital staff she had never been pregnant and had no children.
That story didn’t add up for hospital workers. Kauffman had reportedly visited the same hospital in the fall of 2025, telling staff she hadn’t wanted to be pregnant but never got an abortion because “she felt like she procrastinated so long it was too late,” according to the local outlet. In the months that followed, she reportedly missed multiple pregnancy-related appointments.
Pennsylvania State Police were called to the hospital and launched an investigation. Officers spoke with Kauffman, then went to her home — where they discovered the infant dead in the grass outside, according to the Mifflin County Coroner’s Office. An autopsy confirmed the child had been born alive and later suffered injuries from insects and “prolonged environmental exposure.”
“The newborn was observed to be unclothed with a cut umbilical cord still present,” the coroner’s office stated. “Further examination indicated the newborn survived for a period of time after being exposed to the elements.”
A placenta was also found roughly 50 feet away, “inside a white trash bag with a remaining portion of the umbilical cord still attached.” The coroner’s office added: “This was not a peaceful or natural death. This was the death of a newborn child under deeply tragic circumstances. There are some investigations that stay with you, and this is one of them.”
Authorities are now searching for the victim’s father and are asking any man who may have had sexual contact with Kauffman between July and September 2025 to reach out to the coroner’s office.
The defendant has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
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