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January 17, 2003
BARTOW -- A judge has ruled that authorities must continue to search for the parents of a baby boy abandoned in the parking lot of a hospital.
The ruling by Polk Circuit Judge Robert Doyel on Wednesday delays any attempt to place the baby for adoption.
The infant was about 6 hours old and in good condition when he was discovered Aug. 27 by construction workers in the lot at the Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center, north of Haines City.
Normally, adoption proceedings would have begin. The case was complicated, however, when the hospital received an anonymous letter from someone claiming to be the baby's mother.
A legal notice was placed four times in a Bartow newspaper that advised the unknown parents that their rights would be terminated if they did not attend a Jan. 8 hearing. No one came forward.
Now, the Department of Children and Families will mail out notices to authorities.
Another legal notice to be placed in a newspaper will give details about the baby and invite the father to come forward.
Under a state law passed in 2000, a mother who leaves a newborn 3 days old or younger with a fire station, an emergency medical service facility or a hospital will not be charged with a crime.