Abandoned Baby A Christmas Miracle After Adoption 10 Months Later

POLK COUNTY, FL — Ten months after a newborn baby was found abandoned in a wooded area in Mulberry, the baby girl's adoption was finalized and now she will spend her first Christmas with parents who've waited months to make her a member of their family.

Calling the discovery of the baby girl a miracle, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd shared the happy ending to the little girl's story on the sheriff's Facebook page, eliciting more than 3,000 "likes" and comments.

"This brought tears to my eyes," commented Courtney Bush. "What an amazing thing to come across while scrolling on Facebook."

"This is a Christmas miracle, a true blessing," said Veronica Davis. "Wishing them so much happiness."

"Best Christmas gift ever," said Penny Ann Whitt. "God bless your beautiful family."

By Florida standards, it was a cold night on Jan. 28 when the newborn baby was discovered.

Temperatures had dipped in the low 50s, chilly enough to send the first responders working the night shift at the Polk County Sheriff's Office scrambling to find their rarely worn sheriff's jackets.

Nevertheless, cold weather tends to keep criminals at bay so Detective Joshua Green and Sgt. Sean Ryan were anticipating a fairly uneventful overnight shift.

The solitude didn't last long, however.

Magdalena Gregorio Ordones, who lives with her husband and 12-year-old daughter in the Regel Loop mobile home park off Bailey Road in rural Mulberry, was still awake after midnight when she heard a strange sound outside.

Speaking in Spanish, she explained that she initially thought it sounded like cats fighting. But, as the noise continued, she realized it sounded more like a baby crying in the woods behind their trailer park.

She convinced her husband and daughter to investigate with her and, using flashlights, the family gingerly made their way through the dark woods, guided by the cries.

Ordones said they were shocked when they discovered the source of the sound.

“It was a baby," Ordones said. "It was in diapers, a blanket and towels underneath."

She said she, her husband and their daughter stood there for a moment, staring with disbelief at the infant. Then Ordones quickly called 911 on her cell phone.

Ordones' call sent Ryan and Green rushing to Mulberry in southeast Polk County, followed by Polk County Fire Rescue, arriving on the scene at 1:47 a.m.

"We found this baby that was 6 1/2 pounds, fully developed, very healthy except for some insect bites from being in the woods, wrapped in some old blankets, and left there with the umbilical cord and placenta still attached," said Judd. "We don't know whether the child was born in the woods or whether the child was taken to the woods after it was born."

Based on the baby's body temperature, paramedics estimated she'd been lying in the woods for about an hour and a half.

"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," said Judd."She was left in an extremely vulnerable condition, but she's a strong little girl."

Judd nicknamed the infant baby Angel Grace Lnu.

"She’s as beautiful as an angel. It’s by the grace of God she is not dead and Lnu stands for Last Name Unknown," Judd said.

“She's a gift from God. It’s a miracle,” said Ordones.

The true miracle, said Judd, is that Ordones and her family had the presence of mind to investigate the strange noise despite it being past midnight.

“Thank God for neighbors who were inquisitive and said that sound is not right. Those people are heroes. True heroes. That lady and her husband saved Angel Grace’s life,” Judd said. "She saved her own life, too, because she was screaming out for help. At 6 1/2 pounds, the baby had a great set of lungs to be able to scream loud enough to be heard all the way to the mobile home park.. Had it not been for her ability to scream loudly and this wonderful lady and her husband, this beautiful baby girl would've been dead."

Related:

• FL Newborn Abandoned In Woods Gets Adopted 10 Months Later: Reports
• Newborn Baby Girl Found Abandoned Near Mobile Home Park In Mulberry

The paramedics rushed the newborn to the hospital where she received a clean bill of health despite the circumstances in which she was found. She was placed in the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families which approved her adoption.

"I will never forget her little face in the hospital," Cecille Bactat commented on the sheriff's Facebook page. "If mom and dad are reading the comments, I was one of the nurses who was there when you first met her. I prayed with you and will continue to pray for you. God has big plans for your little girl."

While the adoptive parents asked that their names not be disclosed, they did consent to have their picture taken with Green and Ryan, the first on the scene when the baby was found.

They said they were honored to be invited to the adoption ceremony on Nov. 29, and have a chance to meet the lucky parents of the baby girl they helped rescue.

"Thank you for allowing her picture to be shared," Bactat said. "She still looks the same. Just bigger. And more beautiful."

Several people commented on how much the now-10-month-old baby looks like her adoptive parents.

Also on hand to see baby Angel Grace go home with her new parents was guardian ad litem Melissa Russell Simon.

"I was there on a different case, the five-year-long wait of a 13-year-old being adopted," she said. "What a great day. I got to thank the PCSO deputies personally for all their work. Truly a blessing to see this beautiful little girl find her forever home."

Among those who closely followed baby Angel Grace's story was Kyde Sauers-Puga, a Polk County resident and member of the nonprofit organization, Safe Haven Baby Boxes Inc.

All 50 states now have Safe Haven Laws that allow parents to anonymously turn over their healthy babies without legal repercussions. The laws vary from state to state but, in Florida where the law was adopted in 2020, the baby must be less than a week old for parents to hand over the child to a designated "safe haven," a hospital, fire rescue station or emergency medical services facility where there is always personnel on hand to accept the babies.

"You can literally walk up and hand that baby to a firefighter and drive off and never disclose who you are, and there is no criminal liability," said Judd.

While the Safe Haven Laws have resulted in hundreds of babies being taken to designated hospitals and fire rescue stations, Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes based in Indiana, believes more infants can be saved.

It's a personal mission for Kelsey who was abandoned as an infant. After seeing a "baby box" in operation at a church in Cape Town, South Africa, she started her nonprofit in 2016, which placed "baby boxes" at safe havens.

"We missed the opportunity to educate and walk alongside this parent," said Kelsey, referring to baby Angel Grace's birth mother. "That's where my heart goes."

Kelsey was in Florida on Nov. 30, the day after baby Angel Grace officially became a member of her new family. Kelsey was on hand to celebrate the opening of Florida's second Safe Haven Baby Box, located in Newberry.

The first was placed at an Ocala fire station in October 2020, the same year the state adopted its Safe Haven Law. To date, one baby has been left in that box.

The climate-controlled boxes are installed in an exterior wall of a designated safe haven. the box has an exterior door that automatically locks upon placing a newborn inside. A silent alarm will alert firefighters or hospital staff that a baby has been placed in the box within 60 seconds.

Kelsey said that without the option of the baby box, the infant might be abandoned in a dumpster or, like baby Angel Grace, a secluded area where the newborn could die before being discovered.

"We have young people who don't want to go face to face with someone and hand over their baby, so we've got to expand the Safe Haven Law by giving them complete anonymity," Kelsey said.

Since starting her nonprofit and installing the first baby box in Indiana, Kelsey's been able to place boxes across the country, saving 36 babies, she said. The box in Newberry is the 185th Safe Haven Baby Box.

"Since April 2016, when the first box was installed, there have been no dead abandoned infants in the state of Indiana, proof that our work is succeeding in protecting infants and their mothers in crisis," Kelsey said.

Sauers-Puga said she met with Judd and presented him information on the baby boxes but hasn't received a response.

"Florida itself hasn't approved any baby boxes but, as a county, we can overturn this and get it approved," she said. "I have a team behind me ready, waiting and wanting to make this happen. We are prepared to raise funds locally to fully cover the expenses. Let's make this happen in Polk County. We can do better."

Meanwhile, despite an extensive search for baby Angel Grace's birth mother using K-9s, drones, bloodhounds, the aviation unit and deputies going door to door, she's never been found.