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Police said Thursday afternoon that they have no new leads in the case of a newborn baby who was abandoned Wednesday morning at a restaurant in southwest Charlotte.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Robert Fey said police are continuing the investigation, however, and they would like to find the mother of the young boy, and the man who left the baby in a women's restroom at the McDonald's restaurant in the 14100 block of Rivergate Parkway. That is off South Tryon Street, in the Steele Creek area.
Fey said the baby is under the supervision of the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services.
"At a time they see fit, the child will be placed in foster care," Fey said.
The boy, thought to be two or three hours old, was found about 9:15 a.m. in the restaurant.
Witnesses told police they say a man carrying an infant, wrapped in blankets, into the women's restroom. The man then left. A few minutes later, a restaurant employee entered the restroom and found the infant. The baby's umbilical cord was still attached, and the woman said the baby felt cold.
Surveillance tapes showed a black male entering and leaving the restaurant, but authorities say the baby is white, so it is possible the man who left the infant was not its father.
"It was a man who brought the baby into the restaurant, was not in the restaurant for more than five minutes," McDonald's manager, Daniel Baum, told NewsChannel 36, the Observer's news partner. "The gentleman had a hat over his head so it's really hard to describe who he was."
North Carolina has a Safe Surrender Law, which means parents can place babies (under the age of 7 days) in the care of a responsible adult, without any legal charges.
Police ask that anyone with information in Wednesday's case contact Crime Stoppers, 704-334-1600.
