Abandoned newborn baby found behind dumpster by men throwing trash
A newborn baby was abandoned behind a dumpster in Mississippi - but thankfully found alive and well.
The baby was around two to three weeks old when it was found on Wednesday near Cayce, an unincorporated community in Marshall County, on Mississippi’s northern tip. Marshall County authorities say the baby was found at a mobile home community on Grove Boulevard at around 7:30 by three men who were throwing away their trash.
After hearing what they thought was a crying baby they went to investigate, and found the newborn in a car seat wrapped in blankets, authorities said. The baby was taken to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and is reported to be healthy and in a stable condition. Once the hospital has completed its duty of care the baby will be handed over to Marshall County Department of Human Services.
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Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital told Memphis news station WREG3 that they will be providing no comment on the case while the investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with any information on this case is asked to call the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office at 662-252-1311.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
Three men who were throwing away their trash heard crying coming from behind the dumpster (Google Maps)However, they provided information on Tennessee’s safe haven law - which allows unharmed infants to be left with “statutorily designated private persons." In practice, this means newborns can be left at the hospital or with first responders without fear of repercussions or prosecution.
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In Tennessee, the law was put in place on July 1, 2001, and it permits mothers of newborns up to two weeks old to surrender babies to the designated facilities. There is also a guarantee of anonymity for the mother, as long as the child is not harmed. Safe haven facilities in Tennessee include birthing centers, health departments, hospitals, fire stations, walk-in clinics, EMS and police stations.
Under the Safe Haven law, the baby could have legally been left with hospital staff if unharmed (Getty Images/iStockphoto)In a similar case last month, a baby was found abandoned in a rubbish bin in a dumpster in Hawaii. The baby was found in Honolulu, Oahu, after a neighbor saw a woman give birth on the street before placing the baby in a rubbish bin.
Hawaii’s DHS said it would at first try to find a family member who would be able to take the child into their care. If this was not possible, it would begin searching around for other options for the baby’s future.
Representative John Mizuno, who introduced Hawaii’s Safe Haven law, told KHON 2: “It’s to save newborn babies from abandonment. If that young girl knew about the law she could have had the baby at Queens Medical Center or a hospital and relinquished the baby right after birth and there would have been no criminal charges at all.”
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