Police in Plain City, Ohio, received a disturbing call Thursday afternoon — human remains had been found in the back of a garbage truck. Responding officers soon found the body of an infant.
"The infant appeared to be a full-term newborn from zero to one month of age," officials initially said in a press release.
A resident said the discovery shocked the Bluestem Lane neighborhood. "There was somebody in the neighborhood that said they heard a scream from the waste management employee," the resident, Danielle Steagall, told CBS affiliate WBNS.
"Absolutely heartbreaking, really makes you want to hold your babies closer," Steagall told the station.
Medics pronounced the infant dead and police secured the scene. The local coroner's office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation responding to the scene.
The remains were taken for a preliminary autopsy that was performed by the Montgomery County Medical Examiner's Office Friday morning. Officials said there was no known cause of death.
"The autopsy did reveal that the deceased infant was female and that the umbilical cord was still attached," according to a police update. "Our office has submitted evidence obtained during the autopsy to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation Laboratory for DNA analysis."
Infant found dead inside garbage truck in Ohio
"The autopsy did reveal that the deceased infant was female and that the umbilical cord was still attached," officials said in a press release.
DNA evidence from the autopsy is being submitted to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for analysis, police said, and numerous tips have been given to detectives. Video from a variety of sources, including home security systems and the trash truck itself, is being reviewed.
Plain City police said every effort is being made to identify the infant and determine what led to her death. Police are also concerned about the mother and her health, particularly given the likelihood that the baby girl was born without professional medical assistance.
Preliminary autopsy of newborn girl found in Plain City trash truck released
The autopsy of the infant girl did not provide an immediately known cause of death.
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