Police: Abandoned Baby's Clothes May Be Key To Finding Mother
By Pat Loeb and Dray Clark
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The search continues for the mother of the baby girl found in a box on a North Philadelphia street Wednesday morning. Now, police are hoping some distinctive clothes the baby was wearing will jog someone's memory and lead them to the baby's mother.
Police say it appears the mother left her newborn -- umbilical cord still attached -- at the corner of 27th and Huntington Streets near the Rainbow Daycare and Learning Center, early yesterday morning, in hopes the employees would find her (see previous story).
But, they never saw the box or they thought it was trash, so the baby was outside for hours before a neighborhood volunteer picked it up and felt it move.
"Right now the child's fine," says Special Victims Lieutenant Anthony McFadden. "We're more concerned about the mother who's out there who just gave birth to this child."
Lieutenant McFadden says her body temperature was a little low, but the mother had wrapped her in four layers -- two of them quite distinctive: "She was wrapped in a pink and black polka dot bathrobe and a houndstooth blanket which is red and white."
McFadden hopes that rings a bell with someone, perhaps a friend or family member who's noticed those items and may be able to lead police to the mother. "Or even the mother can contact us just to make sure she's okay and maybe reunite her with her child."
Lieutenant McFadden says it's a frustrating case, because "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."
McFadden says charges are possible, but their first concern is the mother's health.
