2 women sought after baby is found in trash

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has released images from video of two women being sought for questioning in connection with a newborn boy who was found in the trash of a Lynwood park bathroom last week.

A woman visiting Yvonne Burke-John D. Ham Park around 8 a.m. Friday heard whimpering from a trash can in a women’s restroom. Inside the bin, she found an infant among the rubbish, Lt. John Adams of the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Bureau said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

There was evidence the boy was delivered in the bathroom, and authorities said he appeared to be a day or two old when found.

The baby was taken to a hospital, where he was admitted to the neonatal intensive care, Adams said. The child was in stable condition, authorities said.

Surveillance video that the Sheriff ’s Department released shows what appears to be two women and a young child with a pink stroller walking together before sitting on a bench. Authorities also released a sketch of one of the women. Adams did not disclose their connection to the incident.

Investigators are trying to identify the women, saying they are “people of interest that we believe will provide pertinent information to this case,” he said.

After many people inquired about adopting the child — including sheriff’s investigators, fire personnel and nurses who treated the boy at the hospital — an adoption process was initiated for the baby, who was placed into the care of the Department of Children and Family Services, Adams said.

If found, the baby’s mother could face charges of child endangerment or child abandonment, Adams said.

California has a law that allows parents or guardians to surrender a newborn at hospitals and fire stations without legal repercussions.

The law was created in 2001. Since then, more than 180 babies have been safely surrendered in Los Angeles County, Sheriff’s Department officials said.