A 24-year-old Indiana woman has been charged with neglect after she allegedly left her newborn son behind a shopping center with a handwritten note asking that he be placed with another family.
Faith Argo was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of neglect of a dependent involving abandonment or cruel confinement, according to court records. The allegations have not yet been proven in court.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to the 5400 block of East Thompson Road shortly before 7 p.m. on Aug. 24 after receiving a report about an abandoned infant. Investigators determined that the child had been “intentionally left at the location,” the department said.
The baby was found strapped into a car seat behind the shopping center. He appeared unharmed and was transported to Riley Hospital for Children, where medical staff reportedly found no visible signs of trauma. The Indiana Department of Child Services later took custody of him.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Fox, witnesses saw a woman carrying a car seat across the parking lot. The woman allegedly returned a short time later without it. One witness said she appeared to hesitate, as though she was considering going back for the child.
The witness and his wife searched behind the shopping center and discovered the infant. They estimated that he had been left alone for approximately 15 minutes.
Investigators also found a handwritten note containing Argo’s name, the baby’s name, a partial telephone number and an address. The note reportedly stated, “I am unable to keep him, needs a good family.”
Surveillance footage allegedly showed a woman carrying the car seat toward the back of the shopping center before returning without it. Police used the footage and information from child welfare records to identify Argo, according to WTHR. She was located and arrested two days after the child was found.
Argo allegedly told detectives that she had given birth on Aug. 5 and struggled to care for the baby during the following weeks. She and her son had reportedly stayed at a church homeless shelter before sleeping on a friend’s couch.
After leaving the baby, Argo allegedly went to a nearby fast-food restaurant and waited for a friend to collect her. She reportedly acknowledged that leaving the infant behind the shopping center was wrong.
Argo also allegedly said she had considered adoption and researched Indiana’s Safe Haven options but lacked transportation to reach a Safe Haven box.
Under Indiana’s Safe Haven Law, a parent may anonymously surrender an unharmed infant who is no more than 60 days old at an authorized location, including a hospital, police station or fire station, without being prosecuted for the surrender.
Argo is scheduled to appear in court for an omnibus hearing on Nov. 4.