MULBERRY, Fla. – The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is searching for the mother of a baby that was found abandoned on a small hill outside of a Polk County mobile home park early Sunday morning.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, deputies went to the Regal Loop Mobile Home Park, just off Bailey Road, around 1:45 am, to investigate reports of a baby crying.
When the deputy arrived, he found the baby girl wrapped in a blanket. She was still attached to the placenta.
Polk County Fire Rescue medics say the girl was born about an hour before she was found, based on the infant’s body temperature. The infant was taken to an area hospital and is reportedly healthy and stable.
The temperature was in the lower 50s in Mulberry overnight.
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The PCSO used a K-9 unit, drone, aviation unit, and bloodhounds to try to find the baby’s mother. Deputies also started going door-to-door, but have not yet been able to find her.
“It was by the Grace of God that we found the abandoned baby girl when we did, before exposure to the cold or any animals caused her any harm. She was left in an extremely vulnerable condition, but she’s a strong little girl, and it looks like she’s doing great,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
Florida’s Safe Haven Law, which was enacted in 2000, allows parents to leave their unharmed newborn child (under a week old) at any Safe Haven facility (hospitals or properly staffed EMS/Fire Station) anonymously, and without fear of prosecution.
Anyone with information about the mother of this baby, they are asked to call the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at 863-298-6200.
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