Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 1, 1993 TAG: 9312010234
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG LENGTH: Medium
"Baby Jane Doe" - as she's listed in the records of Virginia Baptist Hospital - was wrapped in a plastic shopping bag and left under an oak tree in the yard of a private home, said R.D. Viar, a Lynchburg police investigator.
The child was naked and suffering from exposure when she was found Sunday afternoon by Shekita Champion, 15, and her 13-year-old sister, April.
Investigators estimated the child had been lying outside for several hours, "if that long," Viar said. The temperature was in the 50s, with high winds.
"The baby was extremely cold to the touch" when she arrived at the hospital, spokeswoman Mary Lawson said. "But the baby did not suffer any frostbite."
Her condition was upgraded Tuesday afternoon from serious to fair.
"She is improving slowly, but she is improving," said nursing supervisor Clara Oliver.
Police said this is the first infant abandonment case in Lynchburg in more than 10 years. They have received a few telephone calls from the public.
"We're starting to get some information," Viar said. "But we haven't come up with anything substantial."
Police say there's nothing to indicate that the child's mother was abducted.
Charges against whoever abandoned the baby could range from felony child neglect to manslaughter if the infant dies, Cmdr. Earl Burnette said.
The baby girl was thought to be less than a day old when she was found. She weighs about 7 pounds.
When the baby is released from the hospital she probably will be placed in a foster home, authorities said. Until then, the Department of Social Services was granted temporary custody by a Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court judge.
When a child is abandoned, Social Services' first priority is to try to give the child any necessary medical attention, social work supervisor Kitty Hoover said. Afterward, social services officials begin looking for the child's parents or other relatives, she said.
If a relative cannot be found, a child usually is placed in a temporary foster home. The child probably will be adopted after permission is granted by a judge, a procedure that could take several months to several years, Hoover said.
by CNB