Newborn Baby Found In Box On Street In North Philadelphia
By Ben Simmoneau and Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A newborn baby girl was found in a cardboard box on the street in the city's Strawberry Mansion section Wednesday morning.
Police received the call just before 10 a.m. Wednesday after someone discovered the newborn girl inside a brown box at the corner of 27th and Huntington Streets near the Rainbow Daycare and Learning Center. The infant, just several hours old with the umbilical chord still attached, was covered in blankets laying in the box.
Two men were cleaning the streets when one of them picked up the box to place it near a trash pile and that is when he heard the baby start to cry. He immediately notified police and the baby was rushed to St. Christopher's Hospital to undergo evaluation.
"It is just so sad, so weak because there are so many places and so many people want to take a baby in and raise it themselves," said eyewitness Robert Taylor. "If a person feels as though they cannot help them or they can't raise them, it is just pathetic."
Authorities say the baby girl, weighing five pounds and five ounces, is listed in good condition.
The search continues for the mother of the baby girl and police believe the public may be able to help. The baby was wrapped in some distinctive clothes and police believe someone who knows the mother may recognize them.
Special Victims Lt. Anthony McFadden says her body temperature was a little low but she had been wrapped in a towel, then a sweater, then -- what they're hoping the public recognizes -- a black and pink polka dot bathrobe and a red and white houndstooth blanket.
"She took the time to wrap this baby up and she could have taken her to the closest fire house, police station or the hospital with no questions asked," said McFaddon.
According to police, she may now face charges.
Pennsylvania is one of 48 states that has adopted the Baby Safe Haven law which allows parents to leave an unharmed baby, up to 28 days old, with staff or security personnel at any hospital in Pennsylvania.
For information on the Baby Safe Haven law, click here.
