Another Dead Infant Found at a Dump

The body of an infant was found Tuesday in the trash at a recycling center in Walnut Park, officials said, the second such discovery in recent weeks.

An employee at Best Way Recycling on Firestone Boulevard saw the baby and called the Sheriff’s Department about 5:45 p.m.

Officials didn’t know whether the child was a boy or girl, said Sgt. Rich Longshore.

On June 10, the body of a newborn girl with umbilical cord still attached was found on a conveyer belt among garbage and recyclables at a recycling plant in the City of Industry. Officials think the trash load that contained that baby came from Azusa, but they have not learned whom she belonged to, Longshore said.

Longshore said he named that baby Amanda, after a friend told him the name means “deserving of love.” He arranged for her to be buried in the Garden of Angels, a cemetery for abandoned babies. Investigators plan to attend the service.

On Sunday, a newborn boy was found alive in a cardboard box outside a downtown Los Angeles apartment. He was about 2 hours old and was dressed in clean clothes, officials said. The 5-pound, 4-ounce newborn was treated at County-USC Medical Center and released to the county’s custody.

Three weeks ago, a baby girl was found outside an apartment in Panorama City, naked and covered in blood. She was treated and also turned over to the county.

A California law allows a woman to leave her baby at a hospital, health clinic or fire station within 72 hours of delivery without being questioned or prosecuted. In the last few months, two babies have been surrendered under the safe haven law, officials said.