A newborn baby was abandoned at Animal Kingdom Lodge early Sunday morning and according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the woman who walked into the Disney World resort claiming she’d been handed a baby by a fleeing stranger was in fact the child’s mother.
Orange County Sheriff’s deputies responded to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge around 2:30 a.m. after a female guest reported that a woman approached her in the lobby, handed her the infant and then walked away.
Reedy Creek Fire Rescue responded to the resort and transported the newborn to Celebration Hospital, where the baby is reportedly in good health, according officials.
Sheriff’s office spokesman Jeff Williamson said police later determined that the woman who came into the resort’s lobby carrying the newborn was, in fact, the baby’s mom. Detectives located the woman and she was transported to a facility for evaluation and treatment.
The Florida Department of Children and Families was notified. The agency is “actively assessing and working with the family,” a DCF spokeswoman said. “The child is safe and receiving medical care.”
Florida has a Safe Haven law that allows a parent to drop off a newborn at any fire station or hospital in the state, no questions asked.