Cries lead to baby found in trash can outside North Carolina church, police say
A baby found abandoned in a trash can outside a North Carolina church “is healthy and doing well,” police said.
Someone walking by a church on Fairview Drive in Wilmington heard cries from a trash can and found the newborn boy, police said.
The boy was found just before 6 p.m. Thursday and taken to the hospital, according to police.
A woman walking her dog near the Christ Community Church found the baby inside a tied black trash bag, WECT reports.
The umbilical cord was still attached and wrapped around the baby’s neck, a witness told WWAY.
Investigators are looking for the mother. Police ask anyone with information to call 910-343-3609 or use Tip708.com.
North Carolina has a Safe Surrender Law, which means a parent can surrender a baby who is up to seven days old.
The law says parents cannot abandon a baby on a doorstep but must hand the child to a responsible adult like a healthcare worker, police officer or first responder.
“The law, passed in 2001, is intended to prevent newborn abandonment and homicide. The risk of homicide on the first day of life is 10 times greater than any other time in a person’s life,” according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
“The law provides parents in crisis who feel they have no other choice a way to surrender their baby safely without providing the parents’ name,” the department said.
The baby in Wilmington was found about a mile from a city fire station.
