When a custodian in New York City happened upon a church nativity scene, the last thing he expected to find was a newborn baby, alive and well, inside the manger.
The custodian found the baby boy, who still had his umbilical cord attached, at the Holy Child Jesus Church in Queens around 1:30 p.m. Monday. The manger was empty when he left for lunch, he said, but when he returned he heard crying.
"He was wrapped in, for lack of a better word, swaddling clothes," Father Christopher Ryan Heanue, who called 911, explained. EMS arrived and transported the infant to Jamaica Hospital.
He is listed in good condition.
"I believe that when this woman came into our church to find refuge, she found in this nativity scene a place for her son a place where he would be safe," Heanue said.
Police are now left searching for the child’s mother, who they believe abandoned the baby.
But even if officials find the woman, she could be in the clear.
Under the New York State Abandoned Infant Protection Act, also known as the safe haven law, an infant can be left anonymously at a safe location within 30 days of birth.
