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Taniesa L. Sullivan | The Weekly Ledger News | Up-to-Date News
POLK COUNTY, Fla. - Florida's Polk County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) responded to a call about a baby crying outside early in the morning on Saturday, January 28. A neighbor called 9-1-1 after hearing a baby crying in the woods near her home.
Once PCSO arrived on site they discovered a newborn girl near Regal Loop Mobile Home Park in Mulberry, Fla. PCSO Deputies found the newborn around 1:47 a.m., the baby girl was wrapped in some old blankets and still had the attached placenta and per the baby's body temperature it was estimated that she was born about an hour prior.
Polk County Fire Rescue medics immediately took the newborn to a local hospital, where she is said to be in good health.
At the time, outside temperatures were in the 50's.
Sheriff Grady Judd said,"The six-and-a-half-pound newborn girl is believed to be of Hispanic descent." Sheriff Judd added, “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,”
Sheriff Judd said he named the baby girl, "Angel Grace Lanu, Angel because she is as beautiful as an angel, Grace because it was by the grace of God she was found, and Lanu for last name unknown."
The PCSO has turned the newborn over to Florida's DCF.
PCSO is looking for the mother. Deputies used a K-9 unit, drone, Aviation unit, and a bloodhound, but they’ve not been able to locate the mother yet. If you know anything about this case, you are asked to call Florida's Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Florida has a Safe Haven Law, which was enacted in 2000, which 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.
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