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Deputies Scour Landfill For Fetus Or Baby

Kathy Waters / Highlands Today

Lt. Ruamen Delarua and his k-9 Titan with the Marion County Sheriff's Office search for a baby on Wednesday at the Highlands County Landfill.

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By Joe  Seelig | Highlands Today

Published: November 28, 2007

Updated: 11/28/2007 03:35 pm

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SEBRING — It was eerie on top of landfill Cell-2B Wednesday afternoon, as search dogs with their handlers scoured a mountain of trash for a discarded baby or fetus.

Sheriff Susan Benton confirmed Wednesday that her investigators were searching the landfill looking for a possible fetus or full-term baby thrown out by a 24-year old Lake Placid woman after having it at about 1 a.m. Friday in her home.

On Nov. 27, deputies were called to a "suspicious" incident on Sarasota Street in Lake Placid," Benton said.

The woman's roommates grew concerned when they saw evidence of blood and questioned her, she reported.

"They were told that the mother lost her baby and put it in a plastic bag and placed the bag in the trash for pick up on Friday," Benton added.

The mother has not been charged with any crime, Benton said Wednesday.

"Locating the baby and a subsequent autopsy would most likely determine the age of the baby and the cause of death." Benton added. "Currently we are working the case as a suspicious death, taking all precautions to maintain forensic evidence for any criminal charges that may arise through the investigation."

However, Benton said as a result of this investigation, a second child, a 2-year-old boy belonging to the same mother, was placed into the care of the Department of Children and Families since Monday, when deputies were first notified of the incident and the agency was called in.

The mother's name was being withheld by the sheriff's office.

Once aware of the situation, sheriff's detectives contacted Highlands County Landfill staff.

Investigators learned her garbage was picked up on Friday from Sarasota Street in Lake Placid and would be found within a 100-foot by 60-foot by 4-foot deep area at the landfill.

An incident command center was set up at the landfill and the search began. Through the Florida Sheriff's Task Force the sheriff asked for cadaver dogs from Miami-Dade, Polk and Marion counties.

"These dogs are assisting in the search to locate the infant," Benton said. "The search is a big task, just in this small area, there is approximately 600 tons of compacted garbage."

Marion County Sheriff's deputy Mike Dodd and his K-9 partner Vyke took a break from the chore of going through the massive amount of plastic debris and decomposing garbage.

A brown dust the consistency of espresso coffee grounds clung to his once clean shoes.
"These dogs are trained to differentiate the scent of decomposing human, which puts off a different scent than a dead animal," Dodd said.

He and Vyke have trained in many types of environments, but, "This is different," he said watching on as other dogs and handlers rummaged through the tons of debris. "Earlier one of the Miami dogs found some items with blood on them."

Benton said she believed the dog hit on a bloody towel. It shows how sensitive the dogs' sense of smell can be, she said.

The work is not easy and can be hazardous. One of the dogs sustained a cut on its foot, according to a sheriff's detective at the scene.

Flies and gnats made the work even more difficult for the handlers and detectives. The smell, resembling overcooked popcorn, hung in the air starting about halfway up the trash cell.

Benton said she was grateful to members of other sheriff's offices who have provided her detectives with good suggestions based on their own training experiences for similar situations, on how to go about the search.

A special hearing was ongoing Wednesday to decide who would have custody of the boy.

Detectives said that without the expert assistance of the landfill staff peeling away four inches of garbage at a time, the efforts to find this baby would be almost impossible.

By 2:45 p.m., landfill employee Carl Beckman prepared his bulldozer to push aside the trash already searched as a track hoe operator got ready to strip off the next four-inch layer from the side of the trash heap.

The search had gone into the night Tuesday until about 10 and all day Wednesday. Special spotlights were in place to provide light as the search continued.

A county employee who was at the landfill said that trucks were being diverted to other cells within the landfill to dump their loads.

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