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The body of a newborn baby was found at a disposal and recycling facility in Hesperia.
The body was found by an employee who was sorting through trash on a conveyor belt at Advance Disposal Company at 17105 Mesa St. at around 8 a.m. this morning, ABC 7 reports.
Detectives say the baby was most likely from a nearby area. The facility collects waste from businesses and homes in Hesperia, Oak Hills and parts of Apple Valley. San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Jodi Miller says investigators are looking for "a possible female who had recently had a newborn and did not seek a hospital," according to NBC LA.
In a separate case on Tuesday night, an employee at Athens Services, a sorting facility in the City of Industry, found the remains of a woman. This is the fourth body discovered at Athens since 2002, NBC LA reports. Not all bodies found at waste facilities turn out to be homicides; some can be the result of the improper disposal of a body. The body found at Athens in 2002 remains an unsolved case, but the newborn baby found in 2012 and the man found in 2013 were concluded to not be homicides.
Anyone with information regarding the baby in the Hesperia case is encouraged to call the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Specialized Investigations Division at (909) 387-3589. And just a note that you can safely surrender your newborn in California 72 hours after birth no questions asked. Usually you can bring the baby to a fire station or hospital, but call 1.877.BABY.SAF (1-877-222-9723) for details.
