Police are searching for answers after the body of a newborn baby was found in a dumpster behind a Lakeland business Thursday morning.
Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor says a man was going through the dumpster on the 3600 block of South Florida Avenue when he found a bag with a fetus inside, NBC affiliate WFLA-TV reports.
Taylor said the bag contained “a male baby" with the placenta and umbilical cord, adding that the child had likely been dead for hours before authorities arrived.
According to WFLA, the body was brought to the medical examiner’s office for a postmortem examination.
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When asked if there could be charges related to the case, Taylor said, “There could be several charges depending on what the medical examiner determines. Whether the child was killed. Was the child stillborn? You could have a homicide charge. Did the child suffocate in the bag? We’re still waiting on the results of the autopsy.”
Detectives are canvassing the area for information leading to a suspect.
Check back with NBC6 for the latest information.
