CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago Police have released a photo of a newborn left in a dresser drawer in a Northwest Side alley Tuesday, seeking help from anyone who may know the baby boy’s family.
The baby, less than a week old, was discovered at about 8:15 a.m. in the 2300 block of North Oak Park Avenue in Montclare, according to police.
He was taken in good condition to Lurie Children’s Hospital. The boy had no visible injuries, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
“Inside a drawer, baking in the sun — those conditions could have become life-threatening very early,” Chicago Fire Department Spokesman Larry Langford said.
“I don’t know what the mindset was of the person who left the child there, but if someone wants to give up a child, they should go to a firehouse and the firefighters there would be happy to receive the child, per the protocol of the Safe Haven Act.”
The Safe Haven law allows babies less than 30 days old to be turned over to firehouses, police stations, or hospitals.
Officials from the Department of Streets and Sanitation said there was garbage pick up in the area Tuesday and any furniture discarded in the alley would have been collected, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
In Illinois, parents who can’t care for a newborn may anonymously surrender a baby up to 30 days old at hospitals, emergency medical care facilities, police and fire stations.
Anyone with information was asked to call Area Five detectives at 312-746-6554.
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(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2021. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)