Georgia authorities are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the mother of an infant found abandoned on Thursday. The baby was around an hour old and still had her umbilical cord attached.
Atlanta’s ABC Action News reports that residents who live in a rural, secluded home off of Daves Creek Road in Forsyth County came home from a trip on Thursday night to hear faint cries coming from the woods. As they walked toward the cries, they found a tiny newborn girl wrapped in a plastic bag.
“It is, without doubt, divine intervention that this child was found. If it wasn’t for these citizens, we would be having a different conversation,” Sheriff Ron Freeman said during a news conference Friday.
The baby was taken to an area hospital, where she’s expected to survive. Hospital staff named the little girl “India,” opting against calling the baby the typical “Jane Doe” name given to most unidentified people.
Alan Ragatz, the homeowner who found the baby, said he initially thought the cries were coming from a wild animal. If not for his teen daughters’ insistence, he would have ignored the sounds.
“We wondered how could someone do this?” Father and daughters find newborn girl in plastic bag abandoned in woods near their home. She’s alive and doing well. Now investigators are looking for the mother. Live update at 4pm. pic.twitter.com/Mv92jyOqoh
— Tom Regan (@tomreganWSB) June 7, 2019
“(We) grabbed our flashlights and we’re driving around and we’re, like, ‘That doesn’t sound like an animal,’” Alan’s daughter, Kayla Ragatz, told the outlet. “As we got closer, we realized it was a baby crying.”
Alan told ABC that as they approached the baby, they found her on a pile of leaves, wrapped in plastic.
“She was alive. She was crying, so we figured that was a good sign. Could have been worse. The credit goes to my girls. They were the ones sticking with it.”
Meanwhile, police continue to look for the baby’s family. Investigators said the baby appears to be “Caucasian or Hispanic.”
Anyone with any information is urged to call the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office at 770-781-3087.
[Feature Photo Forsyth County PD]