Video: Mother who abandoned baby at church found

Larger screen

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - New surveillance video taken Monday morning at Steel Lake Presbyterian Church shows something unexpected.

Federal Way Police say it's the mother who abandoned her baby at the church, returning to the same place a little more than 24 hours later. She actually entered the church but then left minutes later.

The same cameras also captured the woman's first visit to the church around 2:15 Sunday morning when she left an infant girl, wrapped in a towel, on the church's front stoop.

The baby stayed there for 5 1/2 hours, until parishioner JC Gumm arrived early for band practice.

"I was just sitting here and I heard, like baby noises. Like, cooing, you know. And I was like, what is that?" she said.

Gumm took a closer look at the bloodied beach towel and was shocked to realize there was a baby inside it.

"My first reaction was like this baby needs help. So I called 911. I picked her up, and was just holding her like this," she said.

The baby girl was taken to the hospital, where physicians determined that she was no more than 12 hours old.

Police began searching for the mother, and say the young woman did call them after seeing news reports.

"I'm here and I'm safe and I'm OK. But you know, our detectives just continued to tell her we need to see you, we need you to come in and identify yourself and let's get this handled," said Cathy Schrock of Federal Way Police.

At around noon Monday, the 22-year-old woman arrived at the police station and identified herself as the mother of the baby. She was questioned for several hours and was released on her own recognizance.

The baby is in fair condition at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma. CPS is looking for a foster home to care for the child.

Police will submit the case to the King County Prosecutors Office for investigation of Child Abandonment, a class C felony, for consideration of formal charges.

While it's legal to leave a baby at an emergency room, hospital or fire department that is open and has qualified staff to provide care, it's not legal to leave a newborn child at a church or other public location.