Aurora Starchild
A one-hour-old baby just saved her own life. After being ditched outside a Florida trailer park in the middle of the night, a newborn caught the attention of a Good Samaritan. The baby was covered in bug bites and would have died from the cold.
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Trailer Park Resident Discovered Abandoned Newborn Baby, Initially Thought Cries Were Cats Fighting
Magdalena Gregorio Ordonez lives in Mulberry’s Regal Loop Mobile Home Park in Polk County. She told the news that she heard wails but initially thought it was “some cats screaming and fighting.” Ordonez went outside and found the baby, just outside a fence on the edge of the woods. Then she called 9-1-1.
According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, the newborn still had her umbilical cord and placenta attached. She was picked up by the sheriffs just before 2 am, and it was a cool 50 degrees outside. That’s cold enough for a newborn to die of hypothermia.
Sheriff Judd nicknamed the infant “Angel Grace LNU.”
“She’s as beautiful as an angel. It is by the grace of God that she is not dead. And LNU is Last Name Unknown,” he explained. He added that she probably saved her own life thanks to her loud vocal pipes, but also that Magdalena Ordonez was a “hero.”
Born at over 6 pounds, Angel Grace is reportedly doing well in the hospital and will be turned over to the Department of Children and Families.”
If the Infant’s Mom Is Found, She Will Be Charged
As for the abandoned baby’s mother, she’s yet to be found. Authorities went door to door in the trailer park looking for her but couldn’t find her. However, she will likely be charged with child neglect if found.
“We will hold her accountable because she left this child abandoned in the woods, ostensibly, to die,” said Judd. “We’ve already taken the appropriate DNA samples, and we will be at the FDLE lab in Tampa first thing in the morning with the DNA samples.”
He reminded the public that Safe Haven laws exist in the state of Florida. Newborn babies one week old or younger can be surrendered at facilities with 24-7 staff, such as hospitals, fire stations, and police stations. Abandoning your baby is not only cruel, but entirely preventable.
“You can literally walk up, hand that baby to a firefighter, and drive off, and never disclose who you are, and there’s no criminal liability to that,” said Judd.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office also thanked those who’d offered to adopt the infant but said they needed to follow protocol. That means the DCF will take care of her and find her a new home with a foster family.
“We know that they will take excellent care of her, and we pray that she has a bright future with a loving family,” wrote the Sheriff’s Office on Facebook.
This winter has been horrible as far as child neglect goes. In December, the daughter of a former Red Sox pitcher abandoned her baby in the freezing woods of New Hampshire. Like Florida, New Hampshire has Safe Haven laws. 26-year-old Alexandra Eckersley was subsequently charged with felony reckless conduct.
