Baby Left In Woods; Forsyth Sheriff Seeking Mom

FORSYTH COUNTY, GA — A family just home from vacation Thursday night heard cries as they unpacked their car, which led them to a wooded site where a newborn baby girl had been abandoned. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office has asked for the public’s help in identifying the child, who was placed inside a plastic grocery store bag and left alone in the woods.

At 10:08 p.m. on June 6, deputies were called to the 1900 block of Daves Creek Road on a report of a baby crying from residents who heard the noise, Sheriff Ron Freeman said during a press conference on Friday. The area where the baby was found is small and isolated, but with several houses on it, he said. The family who heard the baby's cries debated if it was a baby or an animal, and then discovered the infant.

Deputies soon found a white or Hispanic, newborn near full term, female baby who had been left in a wooded area.

"It's our belief the baby was born within hours from our discovery," Freeman said. "There were certain indications the child had just been born, possibly within hours. We certainly believe it was born (Thursday), and possibly late (Thursday). We can only make an assumption it was the mother who placed the child there. We know it was a recent newborn yesterday. We can't say with absolute certainty it was the mother."

The infant was found inside a plastic grocery store bag along the wood line off Daves Creek Road in southeast Forsyth County. The bag was somewhat open, Freeman said. The Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Unit will continue the investigation and search the area.

Deputies immediately gave first aid to the baby, who was taken to an area hospital and is in stable condition. The identity of the baby or parents are not available at this time, Freeman said.

"We want to understand and find out how this baby was abandoned in the wood line there," Freeman said. "It is, without doubt, a divine intervention this child was found. If it had not been for those observant citizens who called 911, we would be having a much different conversation today. You don't anticipate hearing a baby in the woods. Thank God they went out and investigated that and then immediately called 911."

The Department of Family and Children Services sent a representative to the hospital to act as an advocate for the baby. Freeman said they will determine what is best for the child once they take custody until family members can be identified. The baby will likely be placed into foster care, he said.

Forsyth Sheriff Detective Tim Conner said the department is looking for a woman who was in the late term of a pregnancy recently who "all of sudden, doesn't have a child and it's kind of inexplicable."

"We're trying to determine how this happened to this child," Conner said. "We have some concerns for the health of the mother, as well. We need the public's help in identifying this child and her mother."

Sheriff’s investigators are asking the public to help find the infant’s mother. You can contact the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office at its 24-hour line at 770-781- 3087, or the anonymous tip line at 770-888-7308.

Investigators will continue canvassing the area Friday. The weather conditions were bad and it was nighttime when the baby was found.

"We want to deal with both the criminal investigation and making sure both the baby and the related family are taken care of from the standpoint they need to be," Freeman said.

Georgia is a Safe Haven state, meaning the child's mother may leave her baby, up to 30 days old, with an employee of any medical facility including any hospital, institutional infirmary, health center or birthing center in Georgia.

"There are a number of potential charges, from abandonment, to cruelty to the first degree, to other things," Freeman said. "Until we find out what happened, we're not going to speculate on whether criminal charges would be placed. The Georgia Safe Haven law is a way to make sure a child like this is safely cared for. You have 30 days to do this, not to leave a baby in the woods."

Freeman said many of the deputies were at the hospital Thursday night after the baby was found. She has been temporarily been named "India."

"Most of us are fathers or mothers ourselves," Freeman said. "There was a lot of angst about the condition of this child and making sure she was OK, and a lot of gratitude that she turned out to be. We're going to dedicate the resources we need to find out who is responsible for this and why it happened."