Abandoned Newborn Found Baking Under the Sun in Indiana Back Yard

Lowell, IN — A newborn baby was abandoned in the yard of a northwest Indiana home Monday, wrapped in a black towel and left under the hot summer sun. The infant's umbilical cord and placenta were still attached, according to authorities.

A 9-year-old girl, Elysia Laub, who went outside to play found the baby girl in the back yard of her Lowell home at about 11 a.m. and ran to get her own mother, Heidi Laub. Maggots were crawling on the baby's placenta, according to Heidi Laub, who called 911.

The baby suffered sun burns and may have been in the yard for several hours, according to a statement from the Lake County Sheriff's Department, possibly even overnight. Temperatures reached 90 degrees today.

Police are searching for the mother. K9 units and a helicopter were deployed to the area Monday. The spot where she was found is about 100 yards from the closest road.

It was "a miracle" Elysia found her, said Sheriff John Buncich at a press conference, calling the child a "guardian angel." The discovery was made in the 18000 block of White Oak Avenue in Lowell. Elysia told NBC Chicago she could see little pink arms and legs moving.

The newborn was being treated at St. Anthony's Hospital in Crown Point.

"The baby was found in a very rural area, and to think if the 9-year-old wouldn't have gone outside, this could've had a very different outcome," Buncich said at the press conference, as quoted in the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana.

The baby is white, with brownish-blonde hair, reports ABC 7 Chicago.

Indiana has a Safe Haven Law similar to the one in Illinois that permits people to anonymously leave newborns at police stations, fire stations and hospitals without arrest or fear of prosecution.

Upon release from the hospital, the infant will be in the care of the Indiana Department of Child Services. If and when the mother is found, she could face criminal charges.