Forsyth County Sheriffs Office(NEW YORK) — Georgia authorities are searching for information after they say an abandoned newborn girl was found alive in a plastic grocery bag.
Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman called it “divine intervention” that the baby was found in good condition.
The newborn was found along a road in Forsyth County at about 10 p.m Thursday, Freeman said at a news conference on Friday.
Residents heard the baby’s cry and called 911, he said.
“It was obvious that the baby was a newborn. We believe within hours of our discovery that the baby had been born,” he said.
She was rushed to a hospital “where surprisingly, the baby was in good condition,” Freeman said.
Now, the sheriff is desperate to find the identity of the baby and her parents.
“We want to understand and find out how this baby was abandoned,” Freeman said. “Thirty-two years, this is the first one I’ve had of an abandoned child in this manner.”
As the news spreads, residents are coming forward and asking about adopting the baby, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Deputy Jenny Belafi said Monday.
The state has laws allowing for the safe surrender of newborn children.
“Georgia Safe Haven Law allows a mother up to 30 days after the birth of an infant to drop that infant off at a hospital, a fire station, a police station, a sheriff’s station,” the sheriff stressed. “And as long as they turn it over to a person, a live human being, they cannot be charged with abandonment, cruelty to children. It is a way to make sure that a child like this is safely cared for.”
The little girl has been temporarily named India, and is in custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, the sheriff said.
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