BABY FOUND DEAD IN BIN.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

NEWHALL - A woman searching for recyclables Tuesday morning discovered the body of an infant wrapped in a plastic bag in a trash bin at a Newhall apartment complex, police said.

The woman was digging through a Dumpster in the 384-unit Village Apartments complex on Via Estrella near San Fernando Road about 9 a.m. when she picked up a heavy bag that contained a shoe box, police said. She lifted the lid, and she saw a dead baby wrapped in blankets and towels.

The umbilical cord was still attached to the newborn boy, apparently of white or Hispanic descent, homicide officials said. There were no signs of trauma. While a county medical examiner conducts an autopsy, coroner's and sheriff's investigators have begun their work.

Sheriff's officials said whoever discarded the infant could be charged with murder.

``Obviously, this is a tragedy, and it could have been avoided (under) the safe haven law,'' said Sgt. Joe Efflandt, spokesman for the sheriff's department.

Under the safe haven law, a parent may surrender an unwanted infant confidentially within 72 hours of the birth, officials said. The parent can drop off the baby at any Los Angeles County fire station, hospital emergency room, police station or some other designated location without fear of arrest or prosecution, as long as the baby has not been abused.

The Department of Children and Family Services will take custody of a baby left at a safe haven site, and the child will be placed in a foster home after being medically examined and cared for, officials said.

The Safely Surrendered Baby Hotline - [phone] - takes calls from mothers and others who want to know more about the abandonment law. Crisis workers refer mothers to various sites where they can bring an infant.

Thelma Bell, who supervises the hotline, said infants are abandoned for several reasons but mostly because of fear.

``You could be a teen who doesn't think (there are) choices, or a homeless mother,'' she said. ``We don't know what goes through a person's mind when they put a baby in a Dumpster, but I do think they do it because they feel they don't have any choices.''

Since the hotline opened in August, workers have answered questioned about the safe haven law and safe alternatives to placing a baby in a trash bin, Bell said.

In 2002, 13 babies - eight of them dead - were abandoned in Los Angeles County. But 10 mothers utilized the safe haven law and took their babies to law enforcement centers.

Sheriff's Department investigators are asking for the public's assistance in finding whoever dumped the baby at the Village Apartments complex.

If anyone knows a woman who appeared to be pregnant, no longer is pregnant and cannot account for her baby, sheriff's officials ask for a call at [phone].

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Investigators look over the trash bin where a dead newborn boy was found Tuesday in Newhall. Officials noted there are safe ways to abandon a baby without illegally dumping one.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer