Inset: Faith Argo (IMPD). Background: The area in Indianapolis where Argo allegedly abandoned her newborn baby (Google Maps).
A 24-year-old mother in Indiana is accused of abandoning her newborn son, allegedly leaving the child strapped in his car seat behind a strip mall with a handwritten note asking that he be given to "a good family."
Authorities arrested Faith Argo Wednesday and charged her with one count of neglect of a dependent — the abandonment or cruel confinement of a dependent, court records show.
According to a news release from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers responded to the 5400 block of East Thompson Road shortly before 7 p.m. on Aug. 24 regarding a report of an infant being abandoned in the back of a local shopping center. Detectives determined the baby had been "intentionally left at the location."
The infant appeared to be uninjured, and medical personnel transported him to Riley Hospital for Children, where medical staff found no visible signs of trauma. The Indiana Department of Child Services later took custody of him.
After seeking information from the public, investigators identified Argo as the alleged mother of the child. Investigators located and arrested her two days later.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by local Fox affiliate WXIN, witnesses told police they saw a woman carrying a car seat across the shopping center parking lot. The same woman later returned without the car seat. A witness said the woman appeared to hesitate, as if she was considering returning for the baby.
A witness and his wife then went behind the shopping center, where they found the infant still strapped into the car seat. The couple estimated the baby had been alone for about 15 minutes. When investigators arrived, they found a handwritten note with Argo's name and the baby's name. The note reportedly included a partial phone number, an address, and the line: "I am unable to keep him, needs a good family."
Police reviewed surveillance footage confirming a woman carried a car seat to the shopping center and returned a short while later without it. The footage, along with information obtained from child welfare records, helped investigators identify Argo, local NBC affiliate WTHR reported.
When questioned by detectives, Argo allegedly admitted that she left her baby behind the mall, saying she had given birth Aug. 5, but struggled to care for him in the weeks that followed. She and the baby had reportedly been staying in a church homeless shelter and then on a friend's couch when she decided she was unable to care for her son.
After leaving the car seat behind the shopping center, she went to a nearby fast-food restaurant to wait for a friend to pick her up. Argo allegedly told police she knew leaving the baby behind the strip mall was wrong.
She also told police she had considered putting the child up for adoption and had researched Indiana's Safe Haven options, but said she did not have any way to get to a Safe Haven box.
Indiana's Safe Haven Law permits parents to anonymously surrender an unharmed baby within 60 days of birth at designated locations, including hospitals, fire stations and police stations, without facing prosecution for the surrender.
Argo is scheduled to appear in court for an omnibus hearing on Nov. 4, records show.