Abandoned Baby Dies From Cold After Being Presumed Dead by Police
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Police in central England left an abandoned baby they thought was dead in a freezing street for up to an hour Sunday before realizing he was still alive.
The newborn child was found wrapped in a blanket in a bag left outside a mosque in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent. A message read 'Please help bury him' and included $30.
An officer raised the alarm after seeing "vague" signs of life.
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The baby - undiscovered for four hours before cops were alerted - was rushed to the local hospital.
The tiny boy was pronounced dead an hour later. A probe will investigate if officers could have done more for him.
A witness saw the bag at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday but took no action. Said Ahned, 64, peered inside at 10:40 a.m. and called the police.
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"An officer took a brief look in the bag and presumed, because of the letter, the baby was dead," Ahned said.
Another witness, Penelope Meadows, 21, told the Sun, "They put a tent over the body. The officers looked panicked when they discovered the child was alive."
The baby reached the hospital at about 11:30 a.m. Police are still looking for the baby’s mother and are treating the death as “unexplained.” An autopsy is scheduled.
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The Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed it was investigating the police's "initial response."