The Weld County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in identifying a newborn baby who was found dead in Brighton nearly 20 years ago.

The baby John Doe is one of only four unsolved Doe cases in Weld County, deputies said. To try to identify him, the sheriff’s office and Othram Inc. are attempting to use DNA extraction and analysis to find his living relatives.

“It is essential to address what the National Institute of Justice calls the ‘silent mass disaster’ of the tens of thousands of unidentified persons in our country,” said David Mittelman, CEO of the private DNA laboratory Othram Inc.

The sheriff’s office has funded a portion of the costs of DNA testing and genealogical research, deputies said. Othram Inc. is working to build a comprehensive genealogical profile for the baby. The profile costs $5,000 and is being crowdfunded via dnasolves.com.

Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information about the baby to come forward.

The baby was found dead in September 2002 under a bush outside of L&M Auto Repair in Brighton. He had been wrapped in a blue blanket with the words “Skate Bear” and a corresponding graphic. There were no other clues left at the scene, deputies said.

The baby had dark hair, weighed about 7 pounds and was 21 inches long at his time of death. He was believed to possibly be white, Italian or Latino.

Pathologists determined that the baby was born healthy between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. the evening before he was found dead. They were never able to identify the baby’s cause of death, deputies said.

Anyone with information about baby John Doe is asked to call Cold Case Detective Byron Kastilahn at 970-356-4015. To be anonymous, tipsters can contact Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or nococrimestoppers.com.