Infant Boy Found in Hotel Parking Lot

A baby boy, thought to be only a day old, was found lying in a leather sports bag between two parked cars in the parking lot of a Mission Valley hotel Tuesday night, police said.

Spokesman Bill Robinson said San Diego police and paramedics received a call shortly after 7 p.m. from a man and woman who had been attending a function at the new Marriott Hotel on Rio San Diego Drive. Robinson said the couple were walking to their car when they heard a baby crying.

The boy was rushed to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in good condition late Tuesday night, supervisor Melanie Bruce said. Bruce said the baby was being kept in the Level 2 nursery--an intensive care unit--but only for observation.

“He’s a white male who we’re guessing is maybe a day old,” Bruce said. “He’s in good condition, no obvious external problems, but we do want to take a look at him overnight. We don’t know his weight yet, nor do we have an indication of who the parents might be.”

Bruce said the baby was wrapped in a fluffy beach towel, inside the gym bag, when he arrived at the hospital.

Patrick Beron, hotel manager on duty at the time, identified the couple who found the infant as Mr. and Mrs. Frank Johns of San Diego. He described the couple as “kind of overwhelmed by it all. They found not just a lost child but a lost infant. And, thank God they did, because it was just lying there, between two parked cars. I’d say they’re pretty extraordinary people.”

Frank Johns, Reached at his home, declined comment.