Newborn’s Body Washes Ashore in Newport

The body of a newborn infant, its umbilical cord still attached, washed ashore near 10th Street and was found Saturday by a woman on her morning walk, police said.

Police officers were called to the scene about 8:40 a.m. The coroner’s office estimated that the body of the baby girl had been in the water five to six days, long enough for her skin to become so opaque that police were not able to identify her race.

An autopsy was performed Saturday but a cause of death could not be determined until further tests are conducted, said a spokesman for the Orange County coroner’s office.

Investigators said the unidentified newborn was 19 inches long and weighed eight pounds, indicating that she was full term when born. Police have not determined whether the baby was stillborn or how and where she entered the ocean, Chandler said.