Teen Who Reported Finding Abandoned Baby Is Infant's Mother: Cops

SPRING, TEXAS— A teenage girl who told police she found a newborn baby abandoned in a wooded area is actually the child’s mother, police said.

Sheriff’s deputies were called out an apartment complex 15400 block of Kuykendahl Road at about 1:45 Wednesday afternoon for a report of an abandoned baby. The 17-year-old girl told sheriff’s deputies that she was walking near her apartment complex when she heard the wailing of a baby coming from a nearby wooded area.

The teen said she followed the sound of the baby's cry and found her with her umbilical cord still attached. She told investigators that she picked up the infant and brought into her apartment to clean her up.

At the onset of the investigation, Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland said investigators were pulling out all the stops and going door-to-door to find the child’s mother.

“Basically we’ll be doing leg work — knocking on doors and finding out if anyone was pregnant...The baby is less than hours old, so someone has to remember someone being pregnant around here,” Gilliland said.

Officials soon learned that the teen’s story was a ruse and that she'd given birth to the infant inside the apartment earlier that day.

Whoa, interesting twist. The female that initially reported finding the abandoned newborn, we now learn, is the one that gave birth. Infant was not abandoned at this site. Thankfully, was taken to area hospital and is in stable condition. #hounews pic.twitter.com/QsA8QjzyHd
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) September 12, 2018

The baby, who was dehydrated, was given IV fluids and taken to Texas Children’s Hospital in The Woodlands in good condition. The baby is currently being cared by Child Protective Services staffers, officials said.

Neighbors who know the teen, as well as her friends, said she always wore baggy clothing, so no one was aware she was pregnant. Meanwhile, investigators are trying to determine why the teen concocted this story.

Meanwhile, this is the second time in recent weeks that a newborn baby has been abandoned in the Houston area. Last week, a man who claimed a newborn was left an area church, took the hours old baby to Houston Fire Station 63 on Will Clayton Parkway near Humble. Since the infant was left an church, police are looking for the parents.

In Texas, the Safe Haven law, also known as the Baby Moses law, allows parents with children who are less than 2 months old to leave the child with personnel in a designated area if they cannot care for them.
Those areas include:

• fire station
• hospitals
• clinics
• EMS facilities

Officials are still trying to determine what charges, if any, will be filed.

RELATED STORY: Newborn Taken To Fire Station After He's Abandoned At Church

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