A customer made a horrible discovery after entering the bathroom at an Arizona McDonald’s on March 27. There, in the single-occupancy restroom, was a dead infant.
The newborn boy was alone, discarded as worse than trash.
Police arrived on the scene at the McDonald’s near Indian School Road and 35th Avenue in Phoenix around 2 p.m., and first responders pronounced the infant dead at the scene.
A woman was caught on the restaurant’s video surveillance camera walking to the bathroom area, tugging at a locked door and returning to the front of the McDonald’s. Once the person using that restroom exited, the woman walked back, re-entered and exited sometime later.
She was wearing a black Calvin Klein T-shirt, black pants and sandals.
Police released the footage, hoping that someone would be able to identify her so they can find out more about the situation.
“Do You Know Her?” the Phoenix Police Department posted.
Do You Know Her?
On March 27 around 2p.m. a newborn was left in the bathroom of a restaurant near 32nd Ave/Indian School Rd. #PHXPDHomicide detectives need help identifying the woman in the video. Contact @SilentwitnessAZ at 480-WITNESS or 480-TESTIGO with information. pic.twitter.com/WgDxnNvX9U
— Phoenix Police (@PhoenixPolice) March 29, 2022
“On March 27 around 2 p.m. a newborn was left in the bathroom of a restaurant near 32nd Ave/Indian School Rd. #PHXPDHomicide detectives need help identifying the woman in the video. Contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS or 480-TESTIGO with information,” the department said.
According to KTVK/KPHO-TV, police also believe several witnesses were present at the time the woman was there. Officials asked them to come forward, too.
Many have been upset over the incident, and some have used the sad story as an opportunity to remind people that Arizona has a Safe Haven law: The woman could have dropped off her newborn with any one of several approved recipient organizations and would have faced no backlash.
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“If your baby is unharmed, is under 30 days old and you don’t intend to reclaim your baby, you have options!” a page on the Arizona Safe Haven Law website said. “Simply bring your baby to the Safe Haven locations.”
All hospitals, ambulances and on-duty fire stations will take surrendered infants, no questions asked. Certain adoption agencies and churches also will accept a surrendered baby.
“You must hand your baby to a person at the above locations or may place the baby in the Safe Haven drawer at designated hospitals,” the page continued.
“Tell them this is a safe haven baby and you may leave. Your baby will be cared for and a good home will be found for the baby.”
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Some have suggested that the baby already might have been deceased and the woman was looking for a place to leave the body. Others said it’s unlikely the suspect — if the woman in the video truly is the culprit — could have given birth and left the child in that amount of time.
Whatever the sad reality and pressing circumstances behind this story, police hope to be able to get to the bottom of it with the help of witnesses and anyone who might recognize the suspect.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.