Before the infant was found, residents made 911 calls to report the child's mother hiding in bushes and ringing people's doorbells.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 12, 2021. It has since been updated.
After lying on the edge of a muddy creek for hours, a tiny baby boy was found in a cold and wet state, and his safe rescue was called "nothing short of a miracle." What led to the discovery of the baby boy was a couple of 911 calls made by residents, reporting to the authorities about a woman hiding in the bushes and ringing the doorbells of people in their neighborhood in Orion Township, Michigan. Officers of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene at around 8:30 am and were told about the suspicious woman being "distraught."
"...She believed someone was chasing her with guns. When Deputies arrived – and the woman was no longer in the area – staff from Waldon Middle School reported that a frantic woman was pounding on the locked doors of the school," Oakland County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook. Upon finding the woman, officers tried to calm the 37-year-old down, and from speaking to her, they understood that she has an infant son who might be around somewhere in the area. "Deputies also noticed she had burrs on her pants, suggesting she may have been in a field or wooded area," the police department added.
Soon, the department began searching for the baby boy with 13 Sheriff's patrol cars, a K-9 unit, a Sheriff's drone, and an aviation unit as part of the search that went on for about half an hour, according to Detroit Free Press. When the baby was found lying face down near the creek, the little one was cold and wet but still breathing, and the infant was given immediate medical attention.
"The baby was in a hypothermic state when he was found in an area near Waldon and Joslyn roads," Oakland County Sheriff's Office wrote in their Facebook post on April 7, 2021. "Deputies removed the baby’s wet sleeper and wrapped it in warm blankets before he was taken to St. Joseph Mercy for further treatment and observation. The child is expected to be kept overnight at the hospital and is in the care of child protective services."
While the baby was taken into safe custody, the child's mother was shifted to a mental health facility "for a 72-hour mental health commitment," a spokesperson for the Oakland County Sheriff's Office told PEOPLE.
With the baby boy now safe and sound, Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett identified the baby as "baby Carter" and also praised the efforts of the officers who did everything to save the infant's story from having a tragic end.
"Our (selfless) sergeant who found baby Carter was quick to give credit to the other deputies," wrote Barnett on Facebook. "On a personal level, this was nothing short of a miracle. The fact that we had two back-to-back unseasonably warm days might be the only reason baby Carter is still with us after laying in the muddy creek edge for several hours."
Currently, the case is still being reviewed by prosecutors.
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Cover image source: Oakland County Sheriff's Office/Facebook
