Newborn Baby Left in a Dumpster Downstate

JACKSONVILLE, IL — A newborn baby, just 12 hours old, was found in a trash bin Saturday morning, less than a block from the police station in downstate Jacksonville.

Police said an employee taking out the garbage heard something in a Dumpster behind a trucking company and found the naked baby inside.

Jacksonville police Lt. Adam Mefford told the State Journal-Register that the baby was found at 8:15 a.m. and the child could have suffered heat-related injuries if it had been found later in the day. Temperatures were expected to reach the upper 80s Saturday afternoon.

“It’s not nothing short of what we’ve called a miracle that, that baby was found that quickly after its birth,” police Lt. Chris Johnson told KHQA.

Jacksonville, pop. 19,400, is west of Springfield along Illinois 72.

In Illinois, the Safe Haven Law allows for unwanted babies to be dropped at police stations, fire stations and hospitals, no questions asked, so babies aren’t abandoned in Dumpsters or worse.

This child was left in a Dumpster on a street filled with warehouses, loading docks and vacant homes near the police station.

“One thing that keeps coming up, is the woman or the man or whoever did this, doesn’t want the baby to be found; because they were so close to a safe haven here. The police department, the fire department,” Johnson said.

This is the 72nd illegally abandoned baby in Illinois since Safe Haven was passed in 2001, reports the State Journal-Register. The Chicago-based Save Abandoned Babies Foundation said 98 babies have been turned over to a recognized safe haven site in the same time period.

Police are now trying to find the parents. Police have not released the gender or race of the baby. They say many leads have been shared with police.

The baby was taken to a hospital and doctors say it’s doing well. Upon the baby’s release from the hospital, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services will assume responsibility.

The Save Abandoned Babies Foundation can be reached at 312-440-0229 for information and advice for parents of newborns who are in crisis.