A man was shocked to discover an abandoned newborn left alone in a plastic bag in a wooded area near his home in Georgia. Police body cameras captured the moment the child was rescued.
The good Samaritan found the child, nicknamed 'Baby India', after investigating strange cries coming from a forest in Forsyth County, 40 miles north of Atlanta. The find immediately prompted a call to police.
Video shows astonished sheriff’s deputies apologizing to the “precious” little bundle as they delicately remove her from the plastic bag in which she was abandoned. It is not clear how long the child was left outside, but she appears to be covered in blood and still has her umbilical cord uncut.
Warning: The following footage is graphic
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office shared footage of the rescue operation on Tuesday “in hopes to receive credible information on the identity of Baby India” and to “find closure in this case.”
Alan Ragetz, who found the baby, told WSB-TV he was persuaded by his daughters to investigate the crying in the woods.
“We went down, pulled it up, there was a poor little baby wrapped in a plastic bag,” he said. “She was alive, she was crying, so we figured that was a good sign.”
It remains unclear what prompted the mother to abandon her child in such a state, even though Georgia state law allows residents to leave babies up to 30 days old at a medical facility without fear of prosecution. Police say they continue to search for the mother or any of the child’s relatives.
Fortunately, after her ‘second birth’ of sorts, the newborn is now “thriving,” and has been placed in the care of the Georgia Family Department.
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