On the morning of January 28, 2021, a woman from Mulberry, Florida heard an unusual sound coming from the woods near her home. Thinking that it was cats fighting, she and her daughter went to investigate and were shocked to find a newborn baby girl.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd praised the pair for their quick thinking and for their heroic actions. He also noted that the baby was found just in time, as it was approximately one hour old and still attached to the placenta. The baby girl, who they named Angel Grace, was taken to a hospital where she was determined to be full-term and healthy, despite some bug bites.
“At about 1:47 am, deputies found the girl, wrapped in a blanket, on a small hill near the Regal Loop Mobile Home Park, just off of Bailey Road,” the Polk County Sheriff’s Office shared in a report on its website. “She was still attached to the placenta.
Following the baby’s rescue, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office went door-to-door in the area, using a K-9 unit, drone, and aviation unit to try to locate the baby’s mother. So far, their efforts have been unsuccessful.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office used this opportunity to remind local residents of the Safe Haven Law, which allows parents to leave their newborns at any hospital or properly staffed EMS/Fire Station anonymously and without fear of prosecution.
“Those people are heroes,” Judd said during an interview. “True heroes.”
“Thank God for neighbors who were inquisitive and said ‘That screaming is not right,’ and it’s coming from — not in the mobile home park, but out in the woods.”
“We don’t know if the child was born in the woods or if the child was taken to the woods after it was born,” he continued.
Angel Grace is currently in the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families and will remain there until a permanent home is found for her.
