A whimpering noise was bothering Kathleen Nolan.
She was tending the backyard garden in her Carpentersville home Sataurday afternoon, doing some planting, and the small, sad noise just wouldn't stop. She thought someone had tied up a puppy, so she followed the sound to find where the poor creature was.
Instead, the sound lead her to a box at the corner of her neighbor's garage, just beyond her own fence. And inside the box was a baby girl.
"Sure enough, it was a baby. It was a little girl. She still had the umbilical cord on. She had to be maybe a day old, something like that," Nolan said. "She was kind of turned on her side. She didn't have a diaper on, but she had blankets on."
Nolan's neighbor, whose garage the property was on, called police, and they quickly responded.
Carpentersville paramedics took the baby to Sherman Hospital in Elgin. The infant appeared to be in good shape and that doctors at Sherman Hospital estimated she was one to two days old, Carpentersville Police Sgt. Matt Ostrem said.
Authorities located the baby's mother on Sunday, police sources said. Carpentersville Police Chief David Neuman said the family is cooperating with their investigation.
Local
Since August, 2001, Illinois has had a safe haven law that allows any new parent to legally leave a baby, up to 30 days old, with a staff member at any hospital, fire station, police station or emergency medical services provider in Illinois.
In a case where a child is abandoned elsewhere, police and DCFS investigate to find the mother and the reasons behind the abandonment, Elgin Deputy Police Chief Cecil Smith said Saturday. There is a chance the child could become a ward of the state, Smith noted.
