How about “The body of a toddler laid to rest with the head on a pillow in a cave in eastern Kenya is thought to be the oldest human burial ever found in Africa.”
There are details that separate good writing from bad. I guarantee that Katie Hunt is as woke as can be, or bows to the CNN style guide, or both.
Specifically male singular: He, him, his.
Specifically female singular: She, her, hers.
Might be male, might be female, not sure or no need to specify, singular: ???????
Sex not relevant or neuter/neutral singilar: It, it, its.
This is a particular weakness of the English language.
Most other languages don’t suffer from this weakness because they have a designated set of singular pronouns for situation #3.
Some, deliberately wishing to avoid disclosing the sex of a particular person under discussion have used “made up” pronouns.
I saw this circa 2000 in an online discussion: Em, em, ems. Weird at first, but got used to it. The individuals carrying on the conversation were determined not to have readers suss out the identity of the presin whose comings and goings they were discussing. Using sex-nonspecific singular pronouns was nothing but a means to that end. They weren’t virtue signaling or any thing like that.