Rubbish Workers in Irvine Discover Body of Newborn

The body of a newborn girl was found Saturday at a trash transfer station early Saturday, surrounded by debris indicating that it had been picked up with garbage from Newport Beach, police said.

Officers were called about 6:15 a.m. to 16122 Construction Way, where sanitation employees found the infant among the trash, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Van Horn said.

Coroner’s officials estimated the baby girl had been born about 48 hours before her body was discovered, Van Horn said. She was 19 1/2 inches long and weighed about seven pounds, which would indicate she was full-term.

Investigators do not know whether the infant was alive when she was placed in the trash, Van Horn said.

An autopsy was conducted Saturday, but a spokesman from the coroner’s office said it was inconclusive as to whether the child had been stillborn or died after birth. Toxicological tests are pending.

Police will wait until after a cause of death is determined to decide whether to investigate the death as a homicide, Van Horn said.

Near the infant’s body, investigators found envelopes in the trash and other clues that point to Corona del Mar or east Newport Beach as places where the newborn’s body might have been dropped off, police said.

They would not specify about what clues they are using in the attempt to trace the infant’s body.

Anyone with information about the body of the infant is asked to call police at (714) 644-3717 or (714) 644-3781.