Willow Key Apartments Orlando abandoned newborn babies. DNA testing reveals three children discarded being from the same mother and father over 3 year period.
A Florida couple have abandoned their three newborn children at the same Orlando apartment complex over several years, new DNA testing has shown.
Back in July, a one-year-old was found wrapped in a T-shirt on the doorstep of a home at the Willow Key Apartments in Orlando. The only catch, it wasn’t the first time.
Two other babies were abandoned at the complex in 2016 and 2017.
DNA testing showed that the three infants have the same father and mother, the Orlando Sentinel reported last week.
At the time of July’s abandoning of a one-day-old child, an accompanying note explained ‘the baby was left at the location because the mother was in fear of the child’s father and risk he posed to the child,’ police said.
A handwritten note was also found in the 2017 case, which read: ‘I had him in the bathroom alone. His dad tried to kill us.’
‘Please keep him secret and take him to the hospital. Dad [is] a very dangerous man.’
‘egregious and neglectful behavior’:
The Orlando Police Department declined to reveal the babies’ genders on Tuesday or reveal where they’ve been staying since their discoveries. The baby in the 2017 case was confirmed to be a boy in the mother’s note.
Police are now trying to identify the parents, hiring a forensic genetic genealogy firm called United Data Connect.
Under Florida’s Safe Haven Law, a guardian can leave a newborn under seven days old at a hospital or fire station without facing criminal charges.
If the parents are found, cops would first ‘ensure the safety and well being of the mother and of any other children,’ OPD spokeswoman Heidi Rodriguez said.
Any help, such as social services, ‘will be determined once we make contact with the family and determine their needs,’ she said.
It wasn’t clear on Tuesday if the parents, if they’re ever found, would face any criminal charges for their cited ‘egregious and neglectful behavior’ behavior.
‘If we are able to identify the mother, her safety is our top priority, as well as the safety of any other potential children.’
