Matteson police and Department of Child and Family Services were investigating Friday after identifying the family of a baby boy found abandoned.
Police found the infant, between 6 and 9 months old, about 10 p.m. Thursday night in the 3700 block of 214th Street. A resident out for a walk heard a baby cry, police said, and found the baby buckled in a car seat near a dumpster behind some apartments near a wooded area, police said.
“The baby appeared to be in good health, but had a soiled diaper and wet socks,” Matteson police said in a press release. “There were no adults anywhere in the area.”
Police said they did not know how long the child was left “alone in the secluded area” near the Old Plank Trail walking path.
Officers knocked on doors in the area and spoke with residents but found no leads on who left the child or where he came from.
An officer remained with the baby when it was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation.
The police released the following description of the baby boy:
Local
• The baby had black twisted up braids.
• He was wearing a “Red Truck Moving Company” brand white t-shirt with blue sleeves and a red octopus with a tentacle wrapped around a fish with the word “HELP!” above the fish on the front of the shirt. The size of the shirt was for 6-9 months old.
• The baby also had blue pants with white and yellow socks.
• The baby was buckled into an Even Flo brand car seat. The inside of the car seat was gray at the top, blue in the middle, and a square pattern on the bottom consisting of beige, gray, light green, and light blue squares.
• The blanket on top of the car seat was baby blue with the words “dream big” on one side and white, blue, green, and brown squares on the other side.
A blue AAA Title Loans cloth bag was found next to the baby, police said. Police described is contents as:
• 1 yellow, gray, green, and dark gray striped blanket and white on the other side
• 1 dirty “Dr. Browns” milk bottle
• 2 packets of instant Cream of Wheat hot cereal
• 2 containers of Gerber Baby food
• 2 12.4 oz. cans of Enfamil Infant Formula
• 1 blue Formula Straw
• 1 pack of Huggies fragrance free wipes
• There were also multiple size 3 white diapers with green horizontal lines
• 1 yellow vertical line with the words “Once Upon A Giggle”
• A black and white zebra, yellow and black giraffe, and a gray hippo.
“Detectives are attempting to uncover the circumstances surrounding this incident,” police said. “The important fact right now is that the child is safe and being cared for, and the child and family members have been identified.”
