A horrific find on the side of a road in Troup County: a newborn infant, dead in a cooler bag. That’s what police said happened at Boy Scout Road off New Franklin Road on Jan. 6, 2019.
Officers discovered what appeared to be the dead newborn baby in a portable cooler bag. Witnesses told police the cooler had been on the side of the road, near the wood-line, for several days or even up to a week.
Police said that someone stopped and opened the cooler on Sunday and discovered the newborn child and called 911.
Sergeant Stewart Smith with the Troup County Sheriff's Office said that investigators hope the picture of the cooler will help solve the case.
"Maybe someone knows something about this cooler," Smith said. "Maybe they know someone who owned the cooler or recently had a child. Hopefully, we can put those pieces together.
The cooler is light blue in color with pictures of watermelon slices and zips at the top and on the front and sides, Troup County Police said.
Details have not been released about the sex of the child, or when and how they died.
After talking with several witnesses, investigators determined the cooler had been sitting in the same spot for four days -- maybe up to a week.
"There is no excuse why they disposed of it like it was, or why they disposed of the child like they did," Smith said. "But again, we just want to know the circumstances of what happened and what led up to the death of this child."
Smith said until those specifics are known, he can't say what charges the person responsible for leaving the newborn in the cooler could face.
The GBI Crime Lab is expected to perform an autopsy on the child on Tuesday.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call Troup County Police at 706-883-1616 or call Crime Stoppers at 706-812-1000.
