WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Investigators seek mother who abandoned baby in W. Columbia restroom

Investigators seek mother who abandoned baby in W. Columbia restroom

WEST COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Detectives with the Lexington County Sheriff's Department are seeking help from citizens in identifying and locating the mother of a newborn baby girl who was abandoned on Tuesday in a restroom at a medical office building on Sunset Boulevard near West Columbia.

A sheriff's deputy found a note had been left with the girl, stating the baby was born at 9:30am on Tuesday and was last fed at 2:30pm that afternoon, Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said.

The note did not provide any details about the circumstances of the infant's birth.

Sheriff Metts says detectives took emergency protective custody of the girl and placed the infant in South Carolina Department of Social Services custody. 

Metts says the department received a call at about 6:45pm on Tuesday from a janitor who reported finding the baby girl in the women's restroom.

The janitor was cleaning the bathroom after the medical building had closed for the day when she found the infant in a handicapped toilet stall in the bathroom.

The infant was lying on the floor, wrapped in a green towel and children's jacket. Her umbilical cord was still attached.

The janitor contacted a physician, who immediately took the baby girl to the emergency room at Lexington Medical Center. The medical office building is connected to the building that houses the emergency room.

Lexington Medical Center doctors did not find any major medical problems after performing an initial exam.

Detectives want to identify and locate the baby girl's mother so that they can determine whether the mother or a relative is capable of caring for the infant, Metts said.

"Maybe they had baby out of wedlock. Maybe they didn't want to be identified as having a baby. There could be a lot of reasons that baby was left, but we need to find mother and relatives of baby so we can determine what we need to do as far as care is concerned," Metts told WIS News 10.

Metts says he doesn't know whether the mother will be charged, and right now just wants to focus on finding her.

He does have one clue. The mother may have been caught on a security camera. A spokesperson with the Lexington County sheriff's office tells WIS News 10 there is a surveillance camera at the office building, but so far it has not revealed anything to help them.

Under South Carolina law, newborns can legally be left in a safe haven, such as a hospital or hospital outpatient facility, as long as the infant is left in the physical custody of a staff member or employee of the safe haven. 

The law also classifies law enforcement agencies, fire stations, emergency medical services stations and churches that are open and staffed as safe havens where newborn infants legally can be left.

Metts asked anyone with information about the baby girl or her mother to call the Lexington County Sheriff's Department at (803) 785-8230. A spokesperson with the sheriff's department says they've received several calls from people wanting to adopt the little girl.

Reported by Maggie Alexander

Updated by Bryce Mursch