The Alaska State Troopers have identified and located the juvenile mother of a newborn baby who had been abandoned at a Fairbanks intersection on New Year’s Eve in sub-zero temperatures.
A Jan. 4 statement from the Troopers noted that law enforcement transported the mother to a Fairbanks area hospital for evaluation and medical care.
“The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the baby being abandoned is ongoing, and no criminal charges have been filed at this time,” the Trooper’s stated. “The Alaska State Troopers would like to thank our partners at Interior Alaska center for Non-Violent Living (IAC), Stevie’s Place, and FMH Forensic Nursing for the critical resources they provide, as well as the countless Alaskans that submitted tips in an effort to resolve this case and protect the wellbeing of the baby and mother.”
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The baby, known as Teshawn from a note that was attached to the cardboard box with him, “continues to be in good health and is in the care of the Office of Children’s Services (OCS),” the Trooper’s noted
On Dec. 31, around 2 p.m. the Troopers received the initial report of a newborn child who was found abandoned along the side of the road in a cardboard box. A note was left with the child indicating the parent could not take care of it. The child was transported by emergency medical services to a local hospital and was found to be in good health.
According to Alaska’s Safe Surrender Law, parents may surrender their newborn child to a fire station, police station or medical facility within 21 days of birth without facing criminal charges.
7 Comments
So very glad to hear the birth mom is getting the help she needs. Teens don’t track in the adult world…not at all! They don’t know the things adults know. It sounds like the mother’s situation was not good and that she was very afraid. People who work or volunteer at Crisis Pregnancy Centers see this often… scared young ladies. Glad the child is well and safe.
I only sorry more church going christians don’t take the bible seriously enough to read it. If they did then the church families can take care of mothers and children instead of OCS
What a hateful statement.
Churches provide more charitable services than all the liberal do-gooders combined.
Shame.
Jen are you sure your name isn’t Karen? You just made a very hateful judgmental statement. Churches here help with food boxes, family care and mental well-being. They do not get federal funding like OCS.
So sad so wrong.
But thank God, the baby now has a new life.
Amen
Jen, you are making assumptions that just don’t track. As a member of the Body of Christ, His Church, I cannot tell you when the last time our church was asked to provide and care for the needs of an abandoned child or mother in crisis. There are protocols that largely exclude non-state sanctioned organizations, such as churches, who are full of loving and caring people who would jump at the chance to secure and nurture an otherwise helpless mother and child. Sadly, gone are the days of police officers dropping off abandoned children and families at a church in the middle of the night. The bureaucracy of State Child and Family services has done much to hinder these Good Samaritan acts, desires and intentions of the church (even going so far as to use the separation clause). Since the 1950’s, when the State became the nanny of abandoned children, the church was cut out of the loop. Now, individual families of the church must become state approved and qualified, respite or foster care providers, as would any other concerned person or family. The church as an entity, unless it has a specific Whole Family ministry which it administers through the support of its’ members, and has jumped through the bureaucratic hoops, remains largely unknown to the state. Sure, there are cases where a family in crisis is made known to the church through back channels and inside information, and that church will exhaust a plethora of resources to provide everything that family needs, even raising the odd child or siblings, with the mother’s unofficial approval. But churches, although official sanctuaries, are also mandated reporters under statute. This, along with school involvement, introduces to the equation, a daunting ball of red tape upon the church and Good Samaritan families. The state enters the fray with the backing of the courts and state law, and the “do gooders” are overwhelmed. Apparently, the information highway is insufficient to educate teen mothers and mothers to be, with the common knowledge that police and fire stations will take in abandoned children from anyone, with no questions, to promote the survival and safety of the child; This case could have gone wrong on so many levels. Finally, if there are churches who were contacted and would not help, I will boldly say that they are not Christ’s Church, and He never knew them.
Is anyone else concerned about the 21 day abandonment law?? There should not be a time limit on when a parent can voluntarily surrender a child. This baby might not have been left in a cardboard box in frigid temperatures if the mother felt she had more options.