Search for parents of abandoned newborn

After a woman heard crying outside her Southwest Orlando apartment door, she was shocked to discover it was one-day old baby boy. 

With the child was a note, allegedly from the mother, claiming that the baby's father is "dangerous."  Orlando Police continue to investigate to determine who left the baby and why.

"The baby is in good health but the problem with this case, specifically, is that the proper procedure wasn't followed as to properly turn over a baby to the state," said Orlando Police Sgt. Eduardo Bernal.

Bernal is referring to the safe haven law, which allows a parent to legally surrender a newborn at a fire station or hospital.

"You have seven days from the baby's birthday to turn it over," said Bernal.

But the parent must hand the baby over to a staff member to ensure the baby gets the attention it needs.

"If it's done and the proper procedures are followed, there's no criminal repercussions that can come from it," Bernal added; however, he said the parent who left the newborn on an apartment doorstep, may face charges. "In this case, the parent could be facing child neglect."

Charges could have been more serious.

"Luckily in this case, the baby's healthy but should something happen to the baby, I mean, charges could stem all the way to aggravated manslaughter," said Bernal.

Lars White is the former Oviedo Fire Chief, and he is also the local ambassador for "Safe Haven for Newborns," the group which oversee Florida's safe haven program. He said that, since the law went into effect in 2000, 310 newborns in Florida have been surrendered, leading to a decline in illegal abandonment.

"That can often lead to catastrophic results for that newborn infant, our environment in Florida is not real conducive to just dropping a baby on the doorstep somewhere," said Lars White, Ambassador, Safe Haven for Newborns. "We call it saving two lives -- that of the mother and that of the newborn infant."

The apartment complex where the baby was left this weekend saw a similar incident back in 2017 when a baby girl was abandoned. An unfortunate coincidence which officials said could have been easily avoided, if the parent simply took them to one of the designated safe havens.