Chicago detective spends days finding mom of abandoned baby in Uptown

I've probably done more than a few stories that were negative about the police. Especially earlier this week when I posted stories about hiring and personnel decisions at the police department. How about a story of a job well done by a police detective? We ought to hear more stories about this:

Chicago Police Detective Jennifer Ryle spent countless hours watching people come in and out of a courtyard building in Uptown where an abandoned baby boy was found underneath a bush in early July.

Several clues led Ryle to believe the mother was familiar with the courtyard, so she zeroed in on the building, she said. Ryle was so determined to find the mother, she ate her lunch sitting in her squad car outside.

"Whenever the victim is a child, we're the only voice that child has," Ryle said. "As a mother, it was heartbreaking to see this little baby left behind to possibly die. I was looking for an explanation."

On Sunday, Ryle's persistence appeared to pay off. A 15-year-old girl admitted in front of her parents at the Belmont Area Detective Division to abandoning the newborn, police said.

The case started in the early hours of July 8, when Brandon Shepard, a resident of the building where the infant was found, heard strange noises as he returned home from a date. He went to investigate and found a baby inside a plastic grocery bag with its umbilical cord still attached, he said.

Shepard took the baby to a nearby fire station, where paramedics were called. The baby was rushed to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and later listed in serious condition. He was named Wilson after the street on which the fire station is located.

Ryle and her husband adopted their oldest child from China and had their second in January, so she took special interest when she was assigned to the case.

"I knew I was the only advocate for this child," she said. "I also was afraid for the mother. I knew that someone gave birth and didn't get medical attention."

Let me provide a public service here. I'll quote it, especially if there is someone out there you know who is stressed out over a pregnancy. Especially if there are some form of social pressure. That is someone you know is pregnant and they either are concerned that they can't take care of the child or this child might not be welcomed by the family...

Ryle said the girl was not aware of the 2001 Illinois law that extends protection to parents who drop off children up to seven days after birth to havens, which include hospitals, police and fire stations, and emergency medical facilities, no questions asked.

In this story the 15 year old mother in question was very concerned about her parents accepting the baby. It didn't occur to her or at least she may not have expected that her parents would have been supportive of her. I suppose it pays to talk to the parents, if you do then you'll know where their heads are at.

Anyway I like to highlight this detective's background...

Ryle volunteered with the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation years before she had her own children, she said. She has been an officer since 1995 and a detective since 2001.

The positive stories about good police officers. And most you might never hear about. This is certainly a job well done!