Baby girl found abandoned inside Walmart in a shopping cart, Alabama police say
A baby girl was found abandoned inside Walmart in a shopping cart, Alabama police told news outlets.
Police were called around 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 2 to Walmart Supercenter off McFarland Boulevard in Northport after reports of a 4 ½-month-old girl left in a shopping cart, Northport Assistant Police Chief Keith Carpenter told AL.com and other outlets.
Police said the baby was found by Walmart employees and taken to a local hospital before being placed in the care of the Alabama Department of Human Resources, WIAT reported.
Police found a purse in the cart belonging to a 37-year-old woman, WIAT reported. She had custody of the baby but is not thought to be the child’s mother.
The woman was identified through witnesses and Walmart surveillance video, according to AL.com.
She was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, marijuana and a controlled substance, WBRC reported. Her bail is set at $17,500.00.
Police are looking for the baby’s mother, WIAT reported.
McClatchy News reached out to the Northport Police Department on Dec. 3 and are awaiting response.
More than 437,000 U.S. children were “removed from their parents last year,” according to the Family Preservation Foundation.
Federal reports estimate that over 9 million kids have been taken from their parents “in the last 20 years,” the foundation said.
Northport is about 60 miles southwest of Birmingham.
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