ORION TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A series of 911 calls leads authorities to the discovery of a 4-month-old baby boy lying face down in a wooded area in Orion Township Wednesday morning.
“I’ve had a perpetrator stalking my house today from five in the morning, ringing my doorbell profusely. They just came back to my house and was peeping in my window, knocking on the window of my property,” Tom Lipscomb said while calling 911.
Lipscomb said a suspicious woman was allegedly hiding in the bushes and ringing his doorbell. Turns out the was woman was the baby’s mother, who had a mental breakdown and believed someone was chasing after her with a gun.
READ: Abandoned baby found near Orion Township creek expected to be OK, police say
“Thought it was a prank, maybe some kids. I’m not sure what really to think of it,” Lipscomb said.
Across the street, another call came from a woman inside Waldon Middle School.
“Someone is in our building who may be in on drugs. The blonde female, she’s in here now,” the school employee said in the call.
When deputies finally spoke with the 37-year-old woman, they learned she was a mother, despite her saying otherwise. They also noticed dirt on her clothing, prompting the search. With the help of a K-9 unit and 13 dispatched sheriff’s patrol cars, the infant was found in 30 minutes.
“This child would have died if not for the deputies. They set up a quartered off area for a little less than a mile and based on what was on her clothes and what they saw in this one area, that’s how they more quickly located the child,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
Bouchard said the baby boy was in a hypothermic state when he was found. Responding authorities had to remove the child’s wet clothes, wrapping him in blankets before taking him to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
“Happy that it didn’t turn out to be a bigger story. Everyone’s safe,” Lipscomb said.
Police believe the mother’s mental breakdown may have been caused by prescription drug abuse.
The child is in custody of child protective services and will remain at the hospital overnight where he’s being checked out.
Child neglect charges are expected to be filed.