MADERA, Calif. – A newborn baby just hours old was found abandoned on a California country road in frigid temperatures, according to authorities.
“Just before 4:00 a.m this morning, while on his route, a local newspaper carrier found a newborn baby girl lying in the middle of the road,” California Highway Patrol’s Central Division said Monday. “The newborn was discovered dressed only in a soiled onesie in weather just below 30 degrees.”
Aurelio Fuentes, who found the infant, said he heard her crying and screaming. “And I was like. “OK, you know, this is a baby. I gotta get out there,'” he said.
He said the umbilical cord was still attached to the infant.
Fuentes called authorities and the baby girl was rushed to a hospital. She was being treated as of Monday afternoon at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, CBS Sacramento reported, and was said to be in good condition.
Minutes before Fuentes called for help, a woman approached a man walking his dog in the area, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office said. She asked him for help and to take her baby, CBS Sacramento reported. He refused, and pointed her toward a nearby hospital and fire station. He told deputies she took off after that.
It’s unclear how long the newborn had been left in the road. Authorities are now looking for the newborn’s mother.
“We are still trying to identify the suspect at this time,” police said Monday in a statement. “She is described by witnesses as a Hispanic female adult, possibly in her early 20’s. Her physical description is unknown. She left the scene in a small white SUV of unknown make or model.”
