A newborn baby girl not more than 36 hours old was found crying in a Ukrop's shopping bag yesterday afternoon in a neighborhood near Courthouse and Reams roads in Chesterfield County.
The baby still had her umbilical cord attached and was wrapped in several small blankets and a woman's white skirt, Chesterfield police Sgt. John Street said.
The infant was discovered by several neighborhood mothers about 4 p.m. at a school bus stop in the 700 block of Vickilee Court after a dog sniffed the bag and the girl began to cry, Street said. One of the mothers took her inside until an emergency crew could arrive.
The same bag had been seen in the neighborhood about 6:45 a.m., but no one noticed or heard anything unusual then. The bag was in a yard near a mailbox in front of a home, Street said.
The infant, reported in good condition, was taken to CJW Medical Center (Chippenham). Street said the child was full term and was not more than 36 hours old.
Anyone with information about the baby or her mother can call Chesterfield police at 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 748-0660.
The baby was the second newborn found abandoned in the Richmond area in the past two months. On Aug. 27, a woman out for an evening walk discovered a naked newborn boy on the front lawn of a house in eastern Henrico County. The identity of the baby and his parents remains a mystery.
A 2004 state law that gives troubled parents a safe haven for their children makes it unnecessary to abandon babies, authorities say.
The safe-haven law allows parents to take a child with the first 14 days of birth to a hospital that provides 24-hour emergency services or to a rescue squad that employs emergency medical technicians. Once done, parents could be protected from prosecution for abuse, neglect or endangerment.
Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or mbowes@timesdispatch.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement