Newborn Baby Found Outside Care Center

A newborn infant was found abandoned outside a medical emergency center in Mission Viejo on Thursday along with a bagful of diapers, a $20 bill and a note reading, “Hi, my name is Brett. Please find me a good home.”

Suma Nassef, a medical assistant at the Saddleback Urgent Care Center on Alicia Parkway, discovered the baby about 7:15 a.m. when she arrived for work.

“The baby was wrapped in a brown bath towel and its face was covered,” Nassef said. “I think he heard my keys and started crying,” she said. “That’s when I noticed it.” Nassef did not see anybody in the area.

Brett, who doctors said was 1 or 2 days old, is 9 pounds, Caucasian, with brown hair and brown eyes.

“I’m still in shock. I can’t believe it,” Nassef said. “I thought this only happened in the movies.”

Dr. Alan Berman, who examined Brett at the center, said he “looked healthy” and was not suffering from any illnesses. The umbilical cord was still attached, indicating he wasn’t born at a hospital, center director Teresa Bibler said.

Sheriff’s Department investigators took Brett to the Orangewood Children’s Home, a county home for abused or abandoned children. The note, written in pencil on plain white paper, was turned over to the Sheriff’s Department.

Paul Valen, senior social worker for the county’s Child Abuse Registry, said infant abandonment is rare in the county.