By Stephenie Steitzer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FORT MITCHELL - An Internet tip led police to a Covington woman suspected of wrapping her dead newborn's body in a bath towel inside a Bigg's grocery bag and burying it under a porch 12 years ago.

Fort Mitchell Sgt. Tom Loos said investigators received the tip on the city's Web page in August 2002 from someone close to Deborah Groneck-Points, 33, who is charged with a felony count of tampering with physical evidence.

Authorities said Groneck-Points - who hid her pregnancy from friends and family at the time - incriminated herself in the burying of the baby, which she said was stillborn.

She was arrested Monday night and released from the Kenton County jail on $2,500 unsecured bond Tuesday.

Police would not release the name of the tipster, but said the person led them to question Groneck-Points, who at first denied burying her dead son when she was 21.

A DNA analysis confirmed a match between her and "Baby Jesse," whose remains were found in 2001 under the Lucerne Avenue home where Groneck-Points lived during her pregnancy with her sister and brother-in-law, Becky and Glenn Moeller.

Glenn Moeller discovered the bones while he was clearing out the small storage area under his back porch in April 2001. The Moellers are not considered suspects.

Police said after that the DNA analysis, which was completed 10 days ago, Groneck-Points gave a statement incriminating her in hiding the pregnancy from family and friends and then giving birth to a stillborn child and burying the body while she was at the Moeller's home alone Sept. 6, 1991.

Police said an examination of the baby's remains could not confirm it was stillborn.

There were no signs of trauma or injury to the baby's remains, authorities said.

Investigators determined the baby was close to full term when it was born.

Loos said Groneck-Points, who is married but separated from her husband, said she was upset the child was stillborn and regrets hiding the pregnancy.

He said Groneck-Points said she did not know how far along her pregnancy was and believed she had more time to decide how to handle the impending birth.

"She hoped for a solution that never came," he said.

Groneck-Points told police she didn't tell her family or the baby's father, whom police have interviewed but declined to identify.

Commonwealth Attorney Bill Crockett said Groneck-Points could be sentenced to one to five years in prison if convicted.

E-mail ssteitzer@enquirer.com