Woman finds hours-old baby abandoned on the side of the road after her dog pulled her towards a plastic bag and she noticed it was moving
- The unidentified pedestrian was walking her dog along a local street in Seymour, Indiana around 4pm when she noticed the plastic bag with the infant girl inside
- It was sitting along a fence about 20 yards away from South Jackson Park Drive
- The dog pulled its owner over to the bag and she noticed the bag was moving
- Police who were called to the scene took the hours-old infant girl to a hospital where doctors determined she was in good health
- The baby was found less than a mile away from a fire station with a Safe Haven Baby Box designed for unwanted children to be dropped off anonymously
- Safe Haven laws permit parents to discard newborn babies safely and without fear of criminal prosecution
- Police are searching for the baby’s mother who may face criminal charges
A newborn baby girl was found abandoned but alive inside a plastic bag left on the side of a southern Indiana road on Tuesday.
A woman walking a dog in the 600 block of South Jackson Park Drive in Seymour, Indiana discovered the hours-old infant around 4pm.
Seymour Police said the woman’s dog pulled her over to the bag, which was left along a fence about 20 yards away from the roadway.
That’s when the Good Samaritan noticed the bag was moving.
An unidentified pedestrian was walking his or her dog along a local street in Seymour, Indiana around 4pm when they noticed the plastic bag with the infant girl inside
A woman walking a dog in the 600 block of South Jackson Park Drive in Seymour, Indiana discovered the hours-old infant around 4pm
‘The dog owner discovered some movement inside the bag and picked the bag up and discovered there was a child left inside,’ Seymour Police Det. Sgt. C.J. Foster told WTHR-TV.
The woman called police who rushed the baby to a local hospital where doctors determined she was healthy and in good condition, authorities said.
The child was found less than a mile from a fire station with a Safe Haven Baby Box, which is designed to allow people to legally, safely, and anonymously drop off unwanted children without fear of being discovered or criminally prosecuted.
Safe Haven laws in Indiana and other states make it legal for parents or guardians to leave newborn babies at fire stations and other designated centers within a designated amount of time after the child’s birth.
The baby was found less than a mile away from a fire station with a Safe Haven Baby Box
Save Haven Baby Boxes are designed for unwanted children to be dropped off safely, anonymously, and legally, allowing parents to do abandon their children without fear of criminal prosecution (file image)
‘When we installed the first safe haven baby box in Indiana in 2016, we were averaging 2 babies illegally abandoned every year,’ ,’ the Safe Haven non-profit wrote in a Wednesday afternoon post on its Facebook page about the abandoned baby girl.
‘In 2019 so far we’ve had 7 safe haven surrenders where women surrendered their newborns safely and legally,’ the post continued. ‘But I am sad to announce that this is our first abandonment in almost 4 years in Indiana.’
Safe Haven Baby Boxes also immediately alert first responders when a baby has been deposited, so the child can receive proper medical care as soon as possible.
Seymour Fire Chief Brad Lucas said he thought about the abandoned baby all night on Wednesday. He expressed frustration that people risk a child’s life by leaving them stranded rather than dropping them off the right way.
‘What do I have to do? Who do I have to call? Who do I have to brainstorm with to get the awareness out there to people who need to know that?’ he said.
Police are searching for the mother of the newborn who may face criminal charges for abandoning her child improperly and putting her at risk in doing so.
‘Obviously, the concern is trying to find the mother, find out what happened, what are the circumstances of why everything happened and make sure her health is OK,’ Foster said.