Crying Newborn Found in Plastic Grocery Bag, Police Call It ‘Divine Intervention’

A newborn baby girl found alive in a plastic bag in a wooded area in Cumming, Ga., on June 6, 2019. Forsyth County Sheriff's Office via AP

A newborn baby girl has been found alive and crying inside a plastic grocery bag in Georgia and authorities are now looking for her parents.

In a statement, Forsyth County Sheriff said that at around 10:08 p.m. on June 6 a crying baby was reported at the 1900 block of Daves Creek Road.

“Shortly after deputies arrived on scene they located a white, newborn, female baby that had been left in a wooded area,” the statement said.

Police said the deputies who found the child gave her first aid. She was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition.

In a press conference on Friday, Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman said that it was “divine intervention” that the baby remained unharmed inside the plastic bag.

“It was obvious that the baby was a newborn. We believe within hours of our discovery that the baby had been born,” Freeman said.

The baby has been named India for the time being and is under the care of the Department of Children and Family Services.

According to ABC News, the sheriff’s office spokeswoman Deputy Jenny Belafi said on Monday that people are coming forward with proposals for adopting the child.

“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,” said Freeman.

“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,” he said.

Officials are asking the public to share any knowledge of a woman in the late stages of pregnancy who may have given birth to the baby.

In a similar but tragic case, a mother who had concealed her pregnancy from her family and friends has been convicted of murdering her newborn child in the United Kingdom.

The infant was found wrapped in three plastic bags, had multiple skull fractures, bruises, and cuts on her body. She was still alive when the convict left her on unused land near her home.

According to a BBC report, 29-year-old Hannah Cobley from Leicestershire got pregnant from a one-night stand and concealed it out of shame.

“I thought she’d be ashamed of me,” Cobley said when asked why she didn’t reveal her pregnancy to her mother.

The child was born at 32 weeks in a toilet, according to the BBC. The mother inflicted head injuries to the infant, stuffed something in her throat to quiet her, and wrapped her in plastic bags while she was still alive.

After the child’s death, Cobley started to bleed heavily during a holiday at Skegness. She collapsed and was taken to a hospital after which the truth came out.

Cobley told the court that her daughter was stillborn and that the injuries happened when she fell in the toilet during birth, reported the Leicester Mercury. However, the evidence indicated otherwise.

“Cobley could have sought help from her own family or professionals, but instead took actions into her own hands. This decision meant a newborn baby girl was denied her life,” said senior investigating officer Jon Blockley, according to ITV News.

The prosecution’s case against Cobley was so strong that it took a jury just one hour and 40 minutes to decide on a guilty verdict.