Police are looking for a mother they say abandoned her newborn at a home in Springfield, Mass., over the weekend. CBS Boston reports.
On a chilly Sunday night, Julianis Aviles and her husband came home to find the baby boy strapped into a reclined car seat, cold and crying.
“Being a mother, I don’t know how anyone could do that,” Julianis told the station. said “His face was very swollen, his legs were red and very swollen, his whole body was cracked, his hands were cracked — he needed medical attention.”
The newborn was wrapped in a blanket outside their home for two days.
Julianis Aviles
Police believe the child was abandoned Friday night into Sunday evening, when the Aviles family returned from a weekend vacation in Boston.
Julianis kept the baby warm while her husband ran to get help from their neighbor, Marilyn White. She saw the car seat and thought it was a package, since Aviles has young children.
“I looked at the baby’s eyes and you could see those puffy eyes from crying so much. It was so devastating. It broke my heart,” said Marilyn White.
The child was taken to Baystate Medical Center, where he is being treated.
Now the police are looking for her mother, and they — and the people who saved her life — have a lot of questions.
CBS Boston
“I hope mom gets help, we all know she needs help,” Julianis said. “I hope he’s able to get help.”
The family hopes the child they helped give a second chance. “We saved his life; he was there for us,” Julianis said. “He wanted to be with us.”
Police are searching the area where the child was found using CCTV footage.
Massachusetts is a “baby safe haven” state, meaning parents can legally surrender newborns seven days old or younger to hospitals, police stations or fire departments without facing criminal charges.