Sutter's Baby Hope mystery

An autopsy Thursday morning did not indicate whether a female baby found in the Sacramento River was stillborn or drowned, Sutter County Sheriff J. Paul Parker said.

The umbilical cord and placenta were attached to the body, which was found shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday on the east bank of the Sacramento River just south of the confluence with the Feather River.

The child was white or Hispanic with medium brown hair and was born after a full-term pregnancy. She weighed 7 pounds, said Parker.

It was not obvious from the autopsy if the child was breathing before she died or whether any water was in her lungs. Further testing will take at least a week, Parker said.

The body showed no obvious sign of trauma or injury. It probably had been in the water for more than a week, he said.

"We're putting the word out publicly and hoping to get some type of lead," Parker said about the first step in the investigation.

The child could have been put in the water "halfway to Yuba City" and drifted south, or brought from Sacramento County. The spot where the child was found is easily accessible from Garden Highway, he said.

Detectives will visit a trailer park at Verona, north of where the body was found, to check for witnesses, he said.

Someone may have seen a woman "who was a pregnant a week ago and is not pregnant now, and there's no baby around," Parker said.

A DNA sample was taken from the baby, though finding a match is unlikely, he said.

Compassionate Friends, a group composed of parents who've lost children, will hold a candlelight vigil for the baby Saturday in Yuba City, said member Corrina Aguilar.

The group will work with the Sutter County Fire Department and the Trauma Intervention Program to raise money so the child, who is being called Baby Hope, can have a "proper burial and service," said Aguilar, whose son Lorenzo died early this year from an accidental shooting.

Parker said the child's body will be retained by the Sheriff's Department during the investigation.

Compassionate Friends wants to serve as the child's family in the community, said Aguilar.

Wednesday's discovery was the first of a dead infant in Sutter County since a 2001 state law allowed mothers to leave unwanted newborns at certain hospitals and fire stations without penalty or questioning, according to Alice Williams-Root, the county director for maternal and child health.

Sutter, Yuba and Colusa counties have not received any babies surrendered under the law, said Oscar Ramirez, spokesman for the state Department of Social Services.

Rideout Memorial Hospital and Fremont Medical Center are among the sites authorized to accept surrendered children, who must be given up within 72 hours of birth to qualify.

Vigil

• WHO: Compassionate Friends, a group of parents who have lost children.

• WHAT: Vigil for female baby found in Sacramento River.

• WHERE: Yuba City Town Center fountain, Plumas Boulevard.

• WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com. Reporter Howard Yune contributed to this report.