RIVER ROUGE, Mich. – River Rouge police said they no longer believe surveillance video from a nearby home shows a mother abandoning her newborn baby girl Sunday morning in River Rouge.
The baby was found about 8:30 a.m. Sunday abandoned outside an adult foster home on Alexander Street. Someone who lives in the neighborhood found the baby on the front lawn and called police. The baby was wrapped in a blanket near bushes on the front lawn.
Surveillance video shows a person walking near the area on Sunday morning. Police originally said they believed this could be the mother. However, police now say this person is someone else known in the neighborhood.
The video (watch above) also shows paramedics arriving at the scene.
"Neighbors and residents at the home heard what they thought was an animal, a cat, crying. They went out to investigate, did not hear anything at first, continued to hear the cries, went outside a second time and discovered the child," said Det. Sgt. Dasumo Mitchell, of River Rouge police.
The adult foster home is less than a mile from the police station.
Woman who found baby heard noise
The woman who first found the baby said something told her she should keep looking for the source of the sound.
"I remember going out looking, thinking, 'What is that noise?' I thought it was a cat or something on the porch -- I'm hearing something. Something told me to go out farther. That's when I saw it was a baby and I just ran and picked it up," said the woman who found the baby.
Baby was no more than 1 hour old
River Rouge police said the baby was no more than an hour old when she was found. The umbilical cord was still attached. The baby was taken to Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn and is in good condition. She is starting to eat.
River Rouge police are asking for help identifying and locating the mother. Police believe the woman lives in the neighborhood and that she may know someone at the foster home.
Anyone with information on this needs to contact River Rouge police at 313-842-8700 ext. 5.
Previous reports:
READ: What happens when an infant is abandoned?
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