Funeral to happen for unidentified newborn discovered in garbage truck

PLAIN CITY, Ohio (WSYX) — A central Ohio police chief still has no answers about who left the body of a baby in a garbage bin last week, but he is closer to fulfilling his promise to provide a proper funeral for the little girl.

Dale McKee, police chief in the village that sits on the Madison and Union County lines, said more details will be released later in the week, but the funeral has been arranged for the girl on Saturday, June 24th, 2023 at Ferguson's Funeral Home, which McKee said is covering expenses.

A preliminary coroner’s report shows the child was a female and still had the umbilical cord attached. A cause or manner of death is not known at this time.

Last week, McKee said the child had only been in the garbage truck for a few minutes before the driver discovered the body.

In the meantime, the community remains in shock.

“It has stunned the community, definitely,” said Greg Carnes, who lives in the neighborhood where the newborn was found.

Carnes spent more than 20 years in the Department of Youth Services, working with youth felons. He said that gives him the perspective to see this case from all sides.

“First, you want to react to the mother, how can anybody do that?” he said. “However, you don't know what she's gone through, you don't know how old she is, is she abused herself?”

McKee said he’s looking for the answers to those questions and has four of his 11 staffers working on this investigation.