Police searching for mother after newborn baby girl abandoned in hallway in Yonkers
YONKERS, New York (WABC) -- Police in Yonkers say they have been interviewing a person of interest involved in the case of a baby left abandoned inside an apartment building on Tuesday.
The newborn baby girl was found crying in the hallway of a building on Chestnut Street around 8:30 p.m.
A good Samaritan wrapped the infant in a blanket.
The baby was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation but was said to be stable.
"She is being treated for obviously being abandoned, left in a building, being left in the cold and some other issues, but at this time we believe she is in stable condition," said Yonkers Police Department First Deputy Chief Joseph Monaco.
The building where the baby was found is a multifamily building with four apartments.
Detectives from the Major Case Squad and Special Victims Unit spent the night interviewing witnesses trying to determine if the mother lives in the building or has ties to the building.
"We want to look into every angle, could the child have been taken from the mother, we don't know what the situation is, so we don't want to go right to the criminal aspect, we just want to make sure the mom is safe before we push this any further," Monaco said.
Under state law, parents can legally abandon a newborn up to 30 days old without fear of prosecution if it is done at a designated safe location.
That is the opposite of what appeared to happen on Tuesday.
"It's something you can't describe -- seeing someone so helpless in the cold, how would you feel," one resident said.
Confused neighbors say they didn't know of any pregnant women on the block but wish they could have helped.
"I got the text from my wife at work, she was sad herself, she was basically saying, might as well knock on her door let her keep the baby instead of doing that," said Alex Rodriguez, a resident in the building. "Can't believe that."
The investigation into who left the baby, and why, is still ongoing.
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