MADERA, Calif. (KGTV) - A newborn girl found lying in a Central Valley road Monday is safe, according to Madera County officials.
A man was walking in a rural area at Avenue 13 1/2 near Road 28 about 4:30 a.m. when a woman approached him in her SUV.
The woman asked the man if he could take her child, deputies said. He referred her to a nearby fire station and hospital and left the area.
Minutes later, a newspaper delivery man was driving down the road and saw the infant lying on the center line.
The delivery man pulled over and called 911, and the California Highway Patrol and an ambulance responded to the scene.
The baby was wearing one-piece flannel pajamas and was cold but otherwise healthy, deputies said. The baby had been born in the day before she was abandoned.
Paramedics took the infant to Valley Children’s Hospital, where she is expected to make a full recovery, said officials.
A search is underway for the child’s mother, who could face minimum charges of felony child endangerment.
California has a Safe Surrender law allowing newborns to be dropped off at several locations anonymously within three days of their births. The parents have the right to reclaim their child within two weeks.
