Police are investigating the discovery of a baby girl’s body at a southeastern Idaho hospital. The baby was found in a “safe haven” box, which is designed for anonymous surrender of newborns, officials reported on Monday.
On October 13, officers in Blackfoot, Idaho—about 250 miles east of Boise—responded to a report of a deceased infant in the Safe Haven Baby Box at Grove Creek Medical Center, according to CBS affiliate KBOI-TV.
Monica Kelsey, founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, shared on social media that hospital staff responded within a minute to an alarm indicating a baby had been placed in the box. Unfortunately, they quickly realized the infant had already died before being surrendered.
“We are heartbroken,” Kelsey said. “Anonymity is only allowed when an infant is safely surrendered completely unharmed.”
Idaho law mandates that only unharmed and healthy infants can be surrendered under the Safe Haven program. The organization and hospital staff are cooperating with police during the investigation. The baby was found wrapped in a blanket, with the placenta still attached, Kelsey noted.
“I had hoped and prayed that this day would never come. Now that it has, I’m just sick to my stomach,” Kelsey expressed in a separate social media video. Grove Creek Medical Center officials stated on social media that their staff “gave their all in a heartbreaking situation.”
Kelsey, who was abandoned at birth in 1973, established Safe Haven Baby Boxes in Indiana in 2016. The boxes are located at fire departments and hospitals to provide a safe and anonymous way for parents to surrender newborns. Each box is built into the exterior wall of the building. When a baby is placed inside, an exterior door locks automatically, and medical staff can then access the interior door to secure the baby.
These boxes are available in over a dozen states. Since 2017, 52 infants have been surrendered at these locations, according to Kelsey.
Kelsey emphasized that Safe Haven Baby Boxes will continue to educate the public about how the program works.
The Child Welfare Information Gateway notes that each state has slightly different Safe Haven laws regarding the age of the baby. However, these laws generally allow parents, or their representatives, to remain anonymous and avoid prosecution for abandonment or neglect when surrendering their baby to a safe haven.
In June, Florida’s Safe Haven law, known as the Infant Surrender law, was significantly changed to extend the surrender period from seven to 30 days. This extension aims to provide mothers with more time to make this critical decision, as reported by CBS Miami.
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