On June 15, a man was caught on camera abandoning a newborn baby on a walking trail near a bayou in Harris County, Texas, Click2Houston reported.
The baby was discovered wrapped in a towel around 9:00 a.m. on Casa Martin Drive with her umbilical cord still attached, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
“The baby was a newborn,” said Sgt. Juan Garcia with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. “Still had fresh placenta on the baby. So, it was freshly born this morning.”
Authorities released security camera footage showing a man abandoning the newborn. The suspect is described as a young Hispanic or white man with a fair complexion and black hair, according to the report. He was wearing a black shirt and what appear to be gray pants.
The baby survived because a family walking the trail happened to spot the infant within a few minutes of her being abandoned, according to the report.
“We were coming back from our walk this morning, heading home because it was hot,” said Daniela Fedele, who spotted the towel on the trail. “When I went ahead and looked closer, that’s when I noticed a little baby would 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’s husband, Luis Marin, held the baby while she called 911.
“I hold it. The baby opens their eyes to me, looked at me,” Marin said. “We make eye contact. And I’m like, how can somebody just do this?”
“It had the umbilical cord. So, it’s like so many questions go through your mind,” Fedele added.
“We were just there by chance. I guess by God,” she continued. “God put us there, I guess.
Paramedics transported the baby to the hospital. Melissa Lanford, a spokesperson for Texas Department of Family and Parent Services, told Click2Houston this week that the baby was released from a Houston hospital on Friday evening.
The baby girl has since been placed with a foster family, according to the report.
Detectives are still searching for the man who left the child near the bayou. Anyone with information may submit an anonymous online tip to Crime Stoppers of Houston or call 713-222-TIPS (8477).