Family Hears Strange Noise in the Woods, Discovers Abandoned Newborn Wrapped in Plastic Bag
Three teenage sisters and their father are credited with saving the life of an hours-old infant found wrapped inside a plastic bag and left to die in the Georgia woods.
Police are now asking for the public’s help in identifying the mother who abandoned her baby on the night of June 6.
Alan Ragatz was doubtful when his teenage daughters told him they thought they heard a baby crying in the woods.
The sisters had been driving near their Forsyth County home when they heard the crying, but could not quite place what or who was making the sound.
“(We) grabbed our flashlights and we’re driving around and we’re, like, ‘That doesn’t sound like an animal,'” Kayla Ragatz told WSB-TV.
The sisters told their father they suspected it was a human baby.
“I said, ‘That’s got to be impossible. It’s a baby raccoon, deer or something,'” Alan told WSB-TV.
Alan’s daughters insisted they go back into the woods to investigate, and Alan, while skeptical, went with them.
To everyone’s sorrow and horror, they discovered that the sisters’ hunch had been correct.
“We went down, pulled it up. There was a poor little baby wrapped in a plastic bag, and we called 911,” Alan said.
“She was alive. She was crying, so we figured that was a good sign. Could have been worse. The credit goes to my girls. They were the ones sticking with it.”
In a news conference, The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office stated that the baby, a girl, was estimated to be just hours old when she was found.
First responders gave the baby first aid before she was taken to a local area hospital. Sheriff Ron H. Freeman said the baby was reported to be in good condition.
Freeman and the Ragatz family believe that God placed the sisters exactly where they needed to be on the night of June 6.
“It is without doubt a divine intervention this child was found,” Freeman said.
“Had it not been for those observant folks, who are our citizens, who called 911, we would be having a much different conversation today.”
The teenage sisters told WSB-TV that finding the baby left them in tears, but they are thankful they could help.
“I definitely think that it happened for a reason,” one of the sisters told WSB-TV.
The baby, named India by hospital staff, is in the custody of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.
Update 6/25/19: On June 25, 2019 Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page shared segments of the body cam footage from one of the officers who was on duty the night Baby India was rescued.
Warning: This video contains graphic footage which some readers may find disturbing.
“We release this footage in hopes to receive credible information on the identity of Baby India and to show how important it is to find closure in this case,” they wrote in the caption.
If you have any information, you can anonymously contact the FCSO at 770-888-7308.
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