PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department is conducting a death investigation after an infant was found in a bag at about 6:30 a.m. on Friday.
Phoenix PD said the backpack was found in the area of Peoria Avenue and I-17. That's near Cave Creek Park in northwest Phoenix.
The scene backed up to I-17 just north of Peoria Ave.
Officers responded to an unknown trouble call for service and were directed to a bag that had been found behind bushes lining the roadway, Phoenix PD said.
Officers looked inside the bag and found the body of an infant. Phoenix Fire personnel arrived, and the infant was pronounced deceased, Phoenix PD said.
Phoenix Police said the baby girl appeared to have been a newborn.
“It’s difficult to respond to these types of calls," Sgt. Mercedes Fortune with Phoenix Police said. "I can’t make any assumptions on what the parent of the child was going through or why this happened."
Investigators had cleared the scene by the early afternoon on Friday, but Fortune said they were still working to get surveillance video of the area to determine who may have been in the area when the backpack was dropped off or who the baby girl's parents may be.
In Arizona, a parent or designated agent can surrender an unharmed baby in the first three days they're born to a Safe Haven provider, like fire stations and hospitals.
The law will expand in July to allow babies to be surrendered up to 30 days after their birth.
The closest Safe Haven provider to this scene was just a few minutes away at Phoenix Fire Station 33 on Cactus Road.
"It's very difficult to wrap your head around that," Heather Burner, director of Arizona Safe Baby Haven said.
Burner said on average in Arizona, four babies are saved every year through the law, but said nationally, 37 babies were abandoned illegally in 2020. More than half of those babies died.
"The safe-haven law is a good last resort," Burner said. "We have lots of other options we can work through and resources to help support parents."
Burner said she wants parents to know there are other options.
"Reach out because you don’t have to do this alone, we’re here to help support you we will fill the gaps around you," Burner said.
Information on the Arizona Safe Baby Haven law can be found here.
The cause of the infant’s death will be determined by the medical examiner’s office.
Anyone with information related to the incident is asked to call the Phoenix Police Department or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.
This is a breaking news situation, this story will be updated as more information is released.
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