A 28-year-old Lincoln Park woman was arrested March 30 in connection with a dead baby found inside a bag in a wooded area earlier in the month.
“The arrest was made after exceptional investigative work by the Lincoln Park Police Department,” police said in a statement. “The department also received significant interagency cooperation with Wayne County and Michigan State Police.”
Police said the case remains under investigation, calling it “a very disturbing and unfortunate incident.”
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing the incident and will decide on any charges against the woman.
Police stressed in the statement that Michigan’s Safe Haven laws permit a parent to surrender a newborn not more than 72 hours old to an emergency medical service provider with intent not to return for the child.
An “emergency service provider” is an employee on duty at a fire department, hospital, or police station.
The newborn was discovered March 6 in a bag in a wooded area near Fort and St. John streets. Information began circulating afterward about a dumpster behind a Fort Street business near the area where the infant was discovered.
While police were at the dumpster as part of the investigation, the newborn was not discovered inside it, police said.
The dumpster appears to be connected to the case in some fashion, however, as evidence has been sent to crime labs for analysis and is expected to take some time for results to return.
Police noted that the arrest was made on the eve of Child Abuse Awareness Month.
In Michigan, more than 33,000 children become victims of child abuse and neglect annually.
Each year, April is designated Child Abuse Prevention Month.
For more information on Child Abuse Prevention Month, visit michigan.gov/preventchildabuse.
