A baby left alone in the woods just an hour after he was born now has a forever family — thanks to deputies and residents who brought the child to safety nearly a year ago.
As of Wednesday, November 29, the baby girl was officially adopted, Public Information Officer Brian Bruchey of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) in Winter Haven, confirmed to Fox News Digital.
“We have an exciting update to share with you,” PCSO posted on Facebook. “Almost a year ago, on January 28, at approximately 1:47 a.m., PCSO deputies rescued a newborn baby girl who had been abandoned in Mulberry.”
“The girl was wrapped in a blanket, still attached to the placenta. The temperature outside was in the lower 50s, and members of Polk County Fire Rescue examined the girl and determined that, based on the girl’s temperature, she had been born about an hour before she was found.”
“Fortunately, a nearby resident heard the baby girl’s cries and called 911.”
The couple posed with the adopted baby who was left alone in the woods just an hour after he was born. Polk County Sheriff’s Office / Facebook
The couple who adopted the child declined an interview at this time — but they allowed police to share the photo with everyone following the baby’s story “and wish him well,” the PCSO wrote on Facebook.
“We are very excited to share with you the photos from this morning of this precious angel with his new mom and dad, along with PCSO Green Detective and Sgt. Ryan,” the post read.
In a Jan. 29 news conference, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters few details about the baby’s dumping.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office Detective Green and Sgt. Ryan posed with the parents holding the baby. Polk County Sheriff’s Office / Facebook
He said deputies received a call shortly after 1:45 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28, about what sounded like “a baby crying outside” in a wooded area near the Regal Loop Mobile Home Park on Bailey Road in Mulberry, Fox News Digital previously reported .
The noise started late Friday into early Saturday, Judd said, when a neighbor heard what he thought was “some cats screaming and fighting.”
The screams subsided for about an hour and a half, until the woman “heard more screams and cries.”
Deputies received a call on Jan. 28 about what sounded like a “baby crying outside” in a wooded area near the Regal Loop Mobile Home Park on Bailey Road in Mulberry, Fox News Digital previously reported. WFTS
“He came out and said, ‘Well, it’s a baby.’ So, she got her husband and they both searched around and went out in the woods,” Judd continued. “They found this baby, this beautiful baby girl.”
Deputies arrived to find the baby girl on the hill wrapped in “several old blankets” in outside temperatures in the lower 50s.
Police estimate she was born about an hour or so before she was found, and weighed about six and a half pounds.
At that time, Judd had named her Angel Grace Lnu.
“She is beautiful like an angel. By God’s grace he did not die and Lnu [means] last name unknown,” Judd said during a January press conference.
Judd said the baby appeared to be of Hispanic descent. Efforts to find the mother were deemed unsuccessful as investigators questioned neighbors for information, while PCSO deployed K-9 units, bloodhounds, drones and aviation units in the search for answers.
A neighbor said the baby’s cries sounded like “some cats screaming and fighting.” WFTS
“Usually younger people don’t want the child or somehow hide the presence of the child from their parents,” Judd said.
It’s an event the department rarely sees because of Florida’s Safe Haven Law, Judd explained.
“You can legally take a baby a week old or less to a fire station, EMS station or hospital and hand them over anonymously and you don’t have criminal proceedings against you for child neglect or abandonment or anything like that,” the sheriff added. . .
When deputies arrived to find the baby, they found the little girl wrapped in “several old blankets” in temperatures outside in the lower 50s. WFTS
On Wednesday, PCSO announced on Facebook that the girl’s mother had never been located or identified, “despite extensive efforts” by detectives.
Now, 10 months and one day later, the child has officially been adopted, PCSO shared.
The Florida Safe Haven law was implemented to prevent the abandonment of newborns in the state, according to the official Clay County government website.
A Facebook post showed the Polk County Sheriff’s Office announcing the baby was adopted. Polk County Sheriff’s Office / Facebook
“The Safe Haven law is a safety net that allows parents to leave their unharmed newborns, for no more than a week, at any Safe Haven facility recognized by state law, anonymously and without fear of prosecution ,” the website said.
Since 2000, when the Safe Haven law was enacted, there have been 376 babies “not abandoned in Florida” and abandoned in Safe Haven (fire/EMS and hospitals), according to A Safe Haven for Newborns 501c3.
Every US state has a Safe Haven law, according to the nonprofit, although each state varies by the following:
- Age limit
- Individuals who may give up children
- Conditions necessary to release a baby
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
