Police: Newborn baby found in Phoenix-area yard
Mar 9, 2016, 10:05 AM | Updated: 2:00 pm
(Facebook Photo)
(Facebook Photo)
PHOENIX — A one-day old baby was found in a Phoenix-yard on Tuesday morning, police said.
The child, who is being called Baby Jane, was found by a homeowner near Alma School Road and Rio Salado Parkway about 11 a.m.
It is unclear how long the baby was in the yard.
The child appears to have been carried to full term and is in good health. She was likely a few hours old when she was found.
“The newborn still had the umbilical cord attached,” Steve Berry with Mesa Police said. “Things were still moist and damp, obviously from the birthing process.”
Roseanna McCulloh, whose son found the child, said it appeared the baby was cleaned off before being abandoned.
Baby Jane was left in a carrier.
Berry said the child was found near a Mesa Fire Department station. As part of Arizona’s Safe Haven law, parents who cannot care for their children can leave them at fire stations with no questions asked.
“We understand that there are circumstances that people might get themselves into in life that they just don’t feel like they can deal with this or have the ability to care for this child,” he said. “That’s why the law’s in place.”
Churches, hospitals and child care facilities also accept children.
She is Hispanic or Native American and weighs nearly 8 pounds.
Anyone with information on her parents is asked to call the Mesa Police Department at 480-644-2211.
Berry said he is unsure if the parents or person who left the child would be charged.
“At this point, we need their information a lot more than we need them,” he said.
KTAR’s Jim Cross, Martha Maurer and Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.
