Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
EAST HONOLULU, Oahu — Detectives are searching for the person who abandoned a newborn overnight at Hawaii's Sandy Beach Park.
Officials with the Department of Human Services say the baby girl was not injured, but is under observation at the Queen's Medical Center.
"I think first and foremost, we're happy to report that the female infant is doing quite well. She's drinking formula, weighs approximately 8 pounds," said Patricia McManaman, the director of the Department of Human Services to Hawaii News Now.
McManaman said the baby girl appears to have been born a week or two early and was delivered within the last 24 hours.
The infant was reportedly discovered unclothed at Sandy Beach by a 21-year-old woman who heard a baby's cries coming from the shoreline and found the infant alone in the sand.
I think first and foremost, we're happy to report that the female infant is doing quite well. She's drinking formula, weighs approximately 8 pounds.
–Patricia McManaman
"Just blessed that the child had an angel that came and helped her out," said Jonathan Kamai, a Sandy Beach regular. "It would have to be something tragic for someone to just leave their newborn here. Just as a father, how somebody could actually just do that kind of stuff — it's just crazy."
Scott Lima, another Sandy Beach regular, says he was camping in the area overnight and was woken around 11:30 p.m. Sunday by loud activity outside his truck.
"We heard one van pull up or something and whole bunch of people jumped out and I'm not sure what they was doing, but after they left I went back sleep — and a whole bunch of cops came out of nowhere and they started coning off the area," described Lima, who says he never saw a pregnant woman or a woman with a baby. "It was kind of surprising to see all these cops over here looking for somebody this late at night, one little kid — whoa, that's mental."
Law enforcement sources say an eyewitness reported seeing a woman standing in the water and heard her screaming in pain. When he approached her, she told him she cut her foot on the reef. Later, he reportedly saw another woman with a crying baby leaving the beach.
