Baby Found in Box Gets New Home!
OCALA, Fla. -- A newborn baby who was found over the weekend in a cardboard box on the side of an Ocala road has been placed in a foster home and is doing well as police continue to search for the child's parents.
Wesley Pringle found the newborn in a QVC box, along with a blanket, an article of clothing and a diaper, Saturday evening at the intersection of Northwest 17th Street and Northwest 24th Avenue in Ocala.
Police on Monday released an image of the girl, who was about 3 to 7 days old when she was found. The girl appeared to be in good health but did suffer some ant bites, although she's now "thriving," according to the Department of Children and Families.
Pringle found the infant when he noticed fingers poking out of the box on the side of the road. Ocala police said the child may have been abandoned the night before being found.
"That's the roughest start you could ever have; for your mom and dad to just abandon you on the side of the road," Pringle told WKMG-TV.
Images: Motorist Finds Infant Girl In Box
"It's terrible that someone would do that. I would rather them drop (the baby) on my doorstep than to do that. Take (the child) somewhere safe. They say ants had got on (the infant)," said Lois Dowdy, who lives near the location where the child was found.
"It's very sad. It's very dangerous. There are snakes out here," said Florastine Lee, who also lives nearby. "A lot of dangerous animals come out at night that could have eaten up that child, and that child did not ask to come into the world."
Ocala police were searching for a woman driving a gray pickup with a white topper who was seen in the area on Friday at about 7:30 p.m.
State law allows for an unwanted newborn to be left at a hospital, fire station or other emergency medical service station without it being considered child neglect.
Baby Found In Box Gets New Home - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville