Roseville Police Looking For Mother After Dead Baby Found In Park
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — A Roseville city worker found the remains of a newborn baby along a bike trail this morning.
Roseville Police say the remains of a full-term, newborn baby were found wrapped in bags and placed in a diaper box in Saugstad Park.
"It is such a traumatic scene to see," said Sgt. Darin DeFreece. "From the detectives, to the crew that was here working, everybody's really upset about it."
Parkgoers were shocked, saying the park is usually quiet and safe.
"They've got kids that come out here all the time for their baseball games, soccer games," said neighbor Kylee Small. "Oh, what if one of them had found her? That would have been traumatic in itself to find a baby out here."
Police don't know if the mother abandoned the baby, or if it was done by someone else. But they say the umbilical cord was still attached.
"[There are] only two options. Baby was born stillborn, or the baby was actually helped along in order to die," Defreece said.
Defreece says there are laws in place that allow for the surrender of children. The mother could had dropped off the baby at a fire station not far from where it was found.
Now police are looking for answers from the mother.
"There could be a reasonable explanation," said Defreece. "I don't want to tell the story for her; I'd rather have her tell us and give us the explanation of why this occurred."
But if she doesn't come forward, police say a simple DNA test could point them in the right direction.
"You can't fight DNA," he said. "Nobody else exists with that DNA, so if you're the mom, we'll be able to tell right away."
