Baby Dies After Birth Inside Campground Toilet

A newborn baby died Saturday morning after a 16-year-old Sacramento girl gave birth in a campground toilet in the Sierra Nevada and then accidentally dropped the infant into the waste tank underneath, Placer County Sheriff Donald Nunes reported.

Authorities are awaiting results of an autopsy before deciding whether to file charges, Nunes said Sunday.

The girl, whose name was withheld because of her age, was described as “large” and said she had concealed her pregnancy from family and friends. She told sheriff’s investigators that she went to the outhouse at the North Fork Campground after going into labor shortly after 9 a.m.

The girl had been at the campground on the north fork of the American River in the Tahoe National Forest with family and friends since Friday, Nunes said. The campground is about seven miles east of Emigrant Gap and Interstate 80 and about 25 miles west of Truckee.

The young mother admitted to authorities that she had first intended to dispose of the baby, but said she changed her mind during delivery and intended to keep the child, Nunes said.

But while she was delivering the baby by herself in the 4-by-8-foot privy, the infant slipped from her hands and through the toilet opening into the 1,000-gallon tank below, the girl later told a sheriff’s detective.

The girl said she tried to retrieve the crying baby from the tank but was unsuccessful and the baby disappeared, Nunes said.

The story was confirmed by a family member and a friend who heard the baby’s cries. The friend reported the sounds to the girl’s mother, who was let into the privy by the girl, who admitted what had happened.

Authorities recovered the infant’s body late Saturday afternoon. Results of an autopsy are expected today.