HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A woman believed to be the mother of an infant found dead in a trash bin earlier this year has been arrested, along with a man who police said helped her dispose of the body outside a South Florida apartment complex.
They are both charged with failure to report a death, and the man is also charged with illegal disposal of a body, Hollywood police said Friday night.
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The full-term baby boy, with an umbilical cord still attached, was found on Jan. 7 by a roofing company worker who had noticed a foul odor. He found the baby in a reusable shopping bag inside the trash bin, and notified authorities, according to a police affidavit.
Police used video surveillance to track down the owner of a car that stopped beside the trash bin, and later used text messages between the man and woman, along with DNA samples taken from the shopping bag, to track down the mother.
An autopsy found the baby had no signs of trauma or injury, according to the affidavit. The final cause of death is pending further testing to determine whether the baby was born alive or stillborn, the affidavit said.