Man Searching Through Trash For Cans Finds Baby

OSHTEMO TOWNSHIP (AP) - A man hunting for deposit bottles and cans in a trash bin at a Kalamazoo-area apartment complex instead found a live baby in a box Thursday evening, officials said.

"It is a newborn," said Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller. "It is in very good health."

The baby was being treated at Bronson Methodist Hospital, according to the Kalamazoo Gazette.

John VandenBos, 46, lives across the street from Mill Creek Apartment Homes in Oshtemo Township, west of Kalamazoo.

He said he was looking for deposit containers in a bin at the complex. Trash pickup is Friday, so the bins are generally full by late Thursday.

"I saw a box," VandenBos said. "I went to move it out of the way and a little hand popped out. ... I opened it, and I seen a baby."

A blanket in the box appeared to have blood on it, and there was an umbilical cord.

VandenBos said he spotted a woman nearby and called her. She phoned police with her cell phone.

A Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety canine unit was at the scene Thursday night to look for clues that might lead to the identity of whoever abandoned the baby.

VandenBos said he was shaken by his discovery. "I won't be looking for bottles or cans anymore," he said. 

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