30 HUMAN FETUSES DISCOVERED.

Byline: Associated Press 

Five cardboard boxes filled with 30 human fetuses were found in a Chino Hills field near a highway, officials said Saturday.

Two children playing in the field found the first box at about 5:30 p.m. Friday, San Bernardino County sheriff's Sgt. Paul Cappitelli said.

One of the children told a parent, who then called police. Sheriff's deputies responded and found four additional boxes.

Each plain, 3-by-5-foot box contained six fetuses and was sealed with duct tape, Cappitelli said.

The fetuses appeared to be in early stages of development, he said.

Each fetus was stored in a plastic container that appeared to be sterilized, he said.

It was not immediately known where the fetuses came from nor how they landed in the field just west of Highway 71, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles.

``It appears that they might have come from an abortion clinic,'' Cappitelli said.

Investigators were focusing on the possibility that the fetuses accidentally may have been abandoned in the field, Cappitelli said in a statement.

Investigators are trying to get information from any area clinic that arranged for fetus disposal within the past week, Cappitelli said.