CARROLLTON, Texas — Update 4:37 p.m. EDT April 1: Police say an 18-year-old woman has come forward after a newborn baby was found stuffed into a flower pot at a Carrollton, Texas, cemetery.
WFAA reported that police said the woman told them she saw news coverage about the incident. She identified herself as the mother of the baby girl and is cooperating with police.
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The woman has not been publicly identified by police.
Original story:
Police in Texas are looking for information that will lead to the mother of a newborn girl found stuffed into a flower pot in a Carrollton cemetery.
Carrollton police officials said a caretaker at Perry Cemetery spotted an out-of-place flower pot on March 11. When he started to empty the dirt from the pot, he found the child's remains.
“It would seem that whoever placed the baby’s body there also put the flowers,” Carrollton police spokeswoman Jolene DeVito said,
[ according to CBS in Dallas-Fort Worth ]
. “We just don’t know at this point, which is why we’re appealing to the public. Anyone who knows anything that can point us on the direction, we want to hear from you.”
A medical examiner determined the newborn girl was born between 34 weeks and full-term,
. She weighed just under six pounds at birth, and she was buried with her umbilical cord still attached.
"We are awaiting further test results to determine whether she was born alive," a Carrollton Police Department news release read.
The caretaker told investigators the flower pot had to be placed in the cemetery between Feb. 27 and March 2.
"Among our immediate priorities is identifying the baby to ensure a proper burial," the news release read. "If you have any information that may help propel our investigation, please contact Detective Jennifer Cackler immediately at 972-466-3324 or by email at Jennifer.Cackler@CityofCarrollton.com.