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Man finds infant in car
Monday, July 19, 1999 By Johnna A. Pro, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
A Butler County man out for his morning walk yesterday followed a whimpering sound and found a malnourished infant locked in his daughter's broken down car.
The child, believed to be 1 to 2 months old, was in fair condition in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children's Hospital last night, where Dr. Richard Orr said that, other than profound malnutrition, the baby seemed to be in good health. Results of all his tests weren't available.
"He's very responsive," said Orr, who is treating the 6 pound, white, male infant. "He seems to be quite hungry. We're very pleased with the baby's progress."
Ronald S. Kelly, 61, found the boy just before 10 a.m. while taking a stroll on his one-acre property along rural Kelly Road in Worth Township.
Kelly, who suffered a heart attack last month, walks four times a day, said his wife, Janet.
Usually, Kelly walks uphill away from the home he has owned for 35 years. Yesterday, though, he wanted to see how his neighbor's soy bean crop was faring, so he changed his route.
"He heard something like a whimpering, like crying," Janet Kelly said. "He just followed the sound. Our little dog was going around the car like crazy."
His daughter's car, which is normally open and had been parked in the driveway for two weeks, had been locked by someone. Kelly was able to maneuver his cane through a partially open window and remove a piece of cloth lying on the floor of the car behind the driver's seat.
"[The window] was down just enough for him to take the blanket off, and he said the baby looked right up at him. All he had on was a little diaper and he was covered up with some woven material," Janet Kelly said.
Kelly went back to the house just in time to answer a phone call from his wife, who was calling from work to remind him to take his medication.
"He said, 'I found a baby in Dee's car,' " said Janet Kelly, who at the time couldn't believe what her husband was telling her. "He said, 'I know what I heard. I know what a saw.' "
She then summoned her daughter, who was at work nearby, sending her home to open the car and call police.
State trooper Gary L. Miller, who is heading the investigation, said police were able to get some hair and fingerprints from the vehicle but had few clues as to the baby's identity.
"In all reality, this baby could have come from anywhere," he said, noting that the Kelly home is close to two interstate highways as well as a campground. "From my standpoint, you just have to ask why would someone abandon a child? My primary goal is to establish the identity of the baby and his parents."
Miller believes whoever left the baby wanted him to be found.
"If they want to hurt it or they wanted it dead, I don't think they would have done what they did," he said. "It appears somebody wanted the child to be found."
Miller said the baby had a bottle with him that appeared to have some type of formula in it. In addition, Janet Kelly said there was a small pair of pajamas left in the car.
Miller said the Kellys were outside until 10:30 Saturday night but they did not see or hear anything unusual.
Janet Kelly said the family dog did not raise any alarms for the family overnight and that, when she left for work at 8:20 a.m. yesterday, she didn't notice anything unusual in the driveway. She said her car was parked next to her daughter's vehicle.
The baby, whose temperature had dropped to 93 degrees, arrived at the hospital in need of a ventilator, but by last night he was breathing on his own and his temperature was on the rise.
Orr said the baby suffered no obvious signs of abuse, but doctors said not all of the test results were completed.
The infant is expected to be moved out of the intensive care unit, possibly as early as today.
The baby, who is 21 inches long with dark hair, will be in the care of Butler County child welfare authorities once he is released from the hospital.
Anyone with information that might lead police to his parents is asked to call state troopers at the Butler barracks at 724-284-8100.
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