INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Newborn Baby Found Alive Inside Of Trash Compactor At Washington State Apartment Complex

By Tara West
Published on: 06:49 PST, Mar 27, 2016

A newborn baby was rescued from a trash compactor at the Mirabella Apartments in Everett, Washington, on Friday night after a woman placing garbage in the compactor heard the baby’s cries. The female maintenance supervisor at the Mirabella Apartments was taking garbage to the complex’s trash compactor when she heard a strange sound coming from inside of the compactor, a baby’s cries. The woman immediately called 911 and dove into the compactor in her dress, searching for the crying baby. She found the newborn covered in blood with his umbilical cord still attached.

The Daily Mail reports that a maintenance supervisor at the Maribella Apartments named Paula was walking some trash outside with her boyfriend Jeff Meyers when she heard a frightening sound coming from the complex trash compactor. Paula says that as she opened the door to the compactor to insert her trash, she heard what sounded like a baby crying. Not wasting any time, Jeff says they called 911 as Paula dove into the trash bin and began tossing out bags looking for whatever was making the sound.

“As she took some garbage and was throwing it in there, she said, sounds like a baby’s crying in there. In a dress, she dove into the garbage compactor and began pulling out bags of garbage, trying to search for this thing.”

According to KOMO News, Jeff says that police arrived while Paula was still searching for the infant in the garbage can. However, when she was initially unable to locate the baby, the police allegedly told her that maybe it was a baby doll. Jeff says he agreed with the police that it was probably a doll, but Paula was adamant that she heard a real baby’s cries. Therefore, the woman jumped back into the trash and continued her frantic search.

Soon both the police and Jeff realized that Paula was correct as they heard Paula exclaim, “It’s a real baby!”

“Finally, I heard the saddest, crying scream from her saying, ‘It’s a real baby!’I mean, thank God Paula didn’t hit that button. I mean, had that baby not cried one second before she hit that button, we’d be out here for a much worse story.”

The trash compactor was the trash disposal method for the apartment complex and was designed to crush the garbage down so that it takes up less space. Once garbage is placed in the bin, a button is pressed and the garbage is compressed. It was normal for a resident to toss their trash in and then immediately press the button; therefore, Jeff says he is thankful that Paula heard the baby before pressing the button and crushing the newborn inside.

The police were called to the scene and the newborn was rushed to the hospital. Police are still investigating how the newborn got into the trash compactor but noted that Washington state has safe haven laws which allow parents to drop unwanted newborns off at certain locations like an emergency room or fire department with no questions asked. Therefore, it is unclear why the baby was placed in the garbage instead of taken to a safe haven location.

The Everett Fire Department Assistant Chief Rick Robinson says that if anyone finds them in a situation in which they do not know what to do with their newborn that dropping the child off at a fire station is safe.

“If someone finds themselves in a situation where they just don’t know what to do with their baby and the just want to drop it off, a fire station is a safe place to do that.”

[Image via Shutterstock]

Share this article: Newborn Baby Found Alive Inside Of Trash Compactor At Washington State Apartment Complex
More from Inquisitr