Student Says She’s Mother of Baby Boy Abandoned in Truck

A San Fernando High School student identified herself as the mother of an infant boy found abandoned in a truck cab Saturday, saying she was afraid of her family’s reaction to the birth and could not arrange an adoption, San Fernando police said Tuesday.

The woman, 19, whose name was not released, admitted to police Monday that she left her son in the truck in the 500 block of North Workman Street near Fifth Street, San Fernando Police Sgt. Michael Harvey said.

“She brought the baby to school with her Friday and was showing him off,” Harvey said. Several people, including a teacher, recognized the baby on television and called police.

The woman does not live with her parents but stays with other relatives who were unaware of her pregnancy, Harvey said. She had her baby at County-USC Medical Center on May 23 and then left the infant with a friend for a week, Harvey said.

The teen-ager told police she tried to find an agency that would take the healthy baby for adoption Friday, saying she was turned away until Monday. But Harvey said the woman could not remember which agency she called.

She could no longer keep the baby with her friend but was afraid to bring him home Saturday, police said. So she wandered the streets for several hours “confused and upset,” Harvey said, before leaving the baby in the pickup truck.

The owners of the truck, Tony and Marty DaSilva, cleaned the baby, fed him and changed his diapers. They called police, who had the child examined by doctors and turned him over to the Los Angeles County Department of Children’s Services.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office will decide later whether to file charges.

The DaSilvas--who have six children and six grandchildren of their own--said they had volunteered to adopt the boy but were frustrated by the county agency’s procedures. “I kind of wish we had kept our mouths shut and kept the baby. . . . We miss him--he’s a real cute fella,” Tony DaSilva said.