Cop finds baby dumped in bin in freezing cold

A US police officer says he could have been knocked over with a feather after he opened a bin at a petrol station on a freezing day and discovered a newborn baby had survived almost 24 hours after it had been reported missing.

When Wisconsin police officer Mike Horihan lifted the lid on the bin containing six-day-old Kayden Powell last Friday he thought he there was no chance that the boy would still be alive.

"I was opening that container like I was trying to preserve evidence," Mr Horihan told TV station KCRG.

He was shocked to hear a faint whimper and see the boy nestled in a bundle of blankets.

"I got a baby crying here. Baby crying here," he yelled to his partner.

"I found the baby."

Paramedics quickly arrived at the scene and treated the child.

Amazingly the boy appeared healthy and alert and showed no signs of frostbite or hypothermia.

"I think that the baby was found alive is truly a miracle," Mr Horihan said..

A perfect combination of the clothes the baby was wearing, the blankets he was wrapped in and the right amount of air allowed the boy to survive without suffocating to death.

A relative of Kayden's mother, 31-year-old Kristen Smith, has been charged with kidnapping the boy.

Police have not offered a motive for the alleged abduction and dumping of the child.

Source: KCRG

Author: Martin Zavan, Approving editor: Kieran Campbell