HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A death investigation is underway after, police said, a baby was found dead inside a dumpster in Hollywood.
According to Hollywood Police, the baby’s body was found on Monday by a construction worker, just after 8 a.m., who was doing renovation work at an apartment building along the 1700 block of Rodman Street.
The owner of the roofing company told 7News what his employee saw.
“When they got in the dumpster, there was a really bad odor in the dumpster and they opened the box, and inside the box, they found the baby or the body,” John Mitala said.
The man who found the baby told 7News that it’s sad and it shouldn’t have happened.
When first responders arrived at the scene, they attempted to save the baby but it was unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene.
“There was a 911 call indicating that one of the construction workers here that’s working at the 1700 block of Rodman Street, he indicated that he found a deceased infant inside the dumpster,” said Hollywood Police Officer Christian Lata. “When officers arrived on scene, they did confirm that to be true. Fire rescue also arrived on scene and pronounced the child. At this moment, our detective bureau is heading up the investigation.”
Police photographers were at the scene taking pictures of the inside of the dumpster, and crime scene detectives were swabbing the dumpster for potential fingerprints.
Now the question is what happened to the baby and who put it in the dumpster?
Florida has a safe haven law that allows anyone to drop off a newborn at a fire station without question. A fire station was a quarter-mile away from where the baby was found.
If anyone has any information on how the baby made its way inside the dumpster or surveillance footage of the area, they are urged to contact police as they continue to investigate.
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