More than 36 hours after newborn “Baby Harlan” was found abandoned on the porch of a southwest Atlanta home, police were still searching for her mother.
The newborn — named for the road where she was found — was discovered around 6:30 p.m. Monday, wrapped in a pink "Hello Kitty" blanket with her umbilical cord still attached. She was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite and was in good condition.
If police don’t find a relative, she will be handed over to the Division of Family and Child Services once released from the hospital. The search for that relative — namely Baby Harlan’s mother — continued Wednesday.
“Still an active investigation,” Atlanta police Sgt. Greg Lyon said in an email, “but we have not located the mother yet.”
Police have said they are concerned about the mother’s condition, and want to make sure she gets proper medical care. On Tuesday, Lt. Celeste Murphy said she didn’t know if the mother would face criminal charges.
Lyon said Baby Harlan was the city’s first case of a newborn being abandoned this year. The department doesn’t keep statistics, but authorities couldn’t remember an abandonment in 2014 either, Lyon said.
Anyone with information about the child or mother is asked to call APD’s Special Victims Unit at 404-546-4260 or Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS
