Dead Baby Discovered in Laguna Hills Dumpster : Tragedy: It marks the second time in three months that an infant has been found abandoned in a county trash bin.

The body of a newborn infant wrapped in a white cloth was found in a metal trash bin near an industrial park Thursday, and investigators said they are treating the case as a homicide.

Authorities said the dead infant, “a full-term baby with the placenta still attached,” was discovered at 8:30 a.m. by a man who frequently picks through dumpsters looking for electronic parts behind the Saddleback Business Complex, off Pacific Park Drive and Interstate 5.

Lt. Robert Rivas, a sheriff’s spokesman, declined to release details about the case, including the sex and race of the infant. He said investigators are awaiting the results of an autopsy scheduled for later today.

Employees of nearby businesses who saw the newborn in the dumpster said it was wrapped in a white cloth, but Rivas would not confirm the report. He did say that the body was partially covered by trash when it was found.

The discovery marked the second time in three months that an infant has been found abandoned in a county trash bin. In early August, an infant’s body was found at the bottom of a dumpster in Anaheim. Police later arrested a 19-year-old mother in the case.

The body found Thursday had been placed in a brown dumpster parked in an alcove of a building at 27071 Cabot Road.

The man who found the infant was not identified but had apparently spent some time rummaging through other dumpsters in the complex before stumbling onto the body. Rivas and workers at the industrial complex said scavengers frequently sift through the dumpsters before the daily trash pickup. The center is in the Saddleback Technology Park area below the upscale homes in Nellie Gail Ranch.

“This man (who found the baby) goes through all the dumpsters looking for things that are useful,” Rivas said.

Workers from businesses at the complex looked on as coroner’s officials lifted the body from the trash bin and placed it in a tall brown paper bag.

“We like this (office) space because nobody comes back here,” said John Gustavson, whose office is about 20 yards from the dumpster. “Because it’s so isolated here, the person must have tried to pick a good spot to dump their baby.”

Others expressed shock that the newborn was dumped near their offices.

“It’s just a terrible, tragic thing,” said a woman who declined to give her name. “There are so many people who desperately want a child. Someone has decided to do away with a life . . . just like that.”