Sleeping baby found dumped on roadside in car seat with cash, birth certificate
A church group returning home from a field trip made a startling discovery of a sleeping baby boy left in an abandoned car seat on the side of a US highway.
The four-week-old was left on the side of the freeway in the seat stuffed with US$5500 in cash, a birth certificate and a social security card with information about his identity.
Pastor Ken Angel, whose group spotted the child dumped in Ada, Oklahoma, on Saturday, credited divine intervention in coming across the child.
"I feel like God used our youth group to save someone's life Saturday because we're here on Earth to fulfill a redemptive purpose. God stepped in."
The infant has since been placed in the care of child services as authorities investigate why the boy was abandoned.
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Oklahoma City police said a church group returning from an amusement park spotted the child three metres from the shoulder of Interstate 40.
They tracked down and located the child's mother through family members and she was taken to a hospital for evaluation.
"We don't know why she did what she did... but people do the strangest things sometimes," Sergeant Gary Knight told KLTV.
"I don't recall seeing a case like this where a baby was just left on the shoulder of a highway. This could have had a very tragic ending."
Emergency crews estimated the little boy was left in 32 degree heat for about 30 minutes before he was found, but said he appeared to be well cared for despite being abandoned.
An Oklahoma Department of Human Services spokeswoman said she couldn't release any information about the child.
