A baby, so recently born it was “still with umbilical cord attached” has been saved by a couple out walking with their own child, after it was abandoned by a man on a bridge in Texas.
According to Sergeant Juan Garcia of the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, the premature girl “still had fresh placenta … so it was freshly born”, and was found at Bear Creek, in the city of Katy, just west of Houston on Saturday.
CCTV footage shows the suspect – described as having a slim build – slowly walk to a bridge with the child.
After placing down the baby, the man then walks away slowly before sprinting out of sight.
Temperatures in the area over the weekend reached as high as 95F (35C), according to the National Weather Agency so the little girl would have had little chance of survival.
Fortunately a young couple walking their own child and dogs then spotted the newborn and called the police.
Daniela Fedele told NBC News affiliate KPRC 2: “We were coming back from our walk this morning, heading home because it was hot.
“When I went ahead and looked closer, that’s when I noticed a little baby with like her two feet moving.
“I think it was like, am I seeing this, right? Like, are my eyes really seeing a baby here?”
Daniela Fedele and Luis Marin. Pic: KPRC 2
Her husband, Luis Marin, added: ” I hold it. The baby opens their eyes to me, looked at me.
“We make eye contact. And I’m like, how can somebody just do this?”
Sergeant Garcia described the couple as a “blessing” and said they noticed the suspect walking away before rescuing the child.
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Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez added that the as yet unnamed baby was in good condition and that officers were hunting the man who had abandoned her.
Neither he, or the child’s mother have yet been identified.