No New Leads in Case of Missing Newborn - Mason City IA

MASON CITY, IA - A newborn baby is missing and Mason City Police say they need your help finding it.
The search got underway after remains of a birth were found in a local business restroom.
“We'd received a phone call Saturday morning or we were dispatched to the Iowa Workforce Development building,” said Chief Michael Lashbrook.
Chief Lashbrook says the call came in after custodial staff found an umbilical cord and placenta discarded in a restroom.
“Our officers responded to the scene and did confirm that report and subsequent to that we were able to locate the mother,” said Lashbrook.
She is identified as 19-year-old Chanel Hanley of Charles City. While locating the mother usually helps locate the child that’s not the case here.
“At this point she is not cooperating with us in this investigation so we're trying to get the public's help in trying to find the baby,” said Lashbrook
The child is believed to be pre-mature, between 29 and 32 weeks, weighing only three pounds. Police are focusing their search around the Workforce Development office in the southwest part of town.
“When you conduct a search of this nature I think you start the focal point or ground zero would be Iowa Workforce Development and then you expand out from there,” said Lashbrook.
While more than 48 hours have passed since law enforcement was initially dispatched they remain optimistic that they'll find the child alive but also realize it might already be too late.
“We want them to call us we need to locate this baby our hope is that it is alive and well and somebody has it but at this point we have to consider the notion that it isn't and may have been discarded,” said Lashbrook.
The mother, Chanel Hanley, has not been charged with any crimes at this point. Chief Lashbrook says their focus now is locating the child, but said charges could be filed at a future date.
Anyone with any information about this case is urged to call the Mason City Police Department at 641-421-3636.

http://www.kimt.com/content/breaking/story/Police-Looking-For-Missing-Baby/5CePcavmv0m9LbuGmMZ3Xw.cspx

MASON CITY - The Mason City Police Department is not releasing any new information today about the search for a missing premature baby.

A cleaning crew at the Iowa Workforce Development Center, 600 S. Pierce Ave., found an umbilical cord and placenta in one of its restrooms Saturday.

The child's mother Chanel Hanley, 19, of Charles City, is not cooperating with police, according to officials.

The baby was believed to be born 29 to 32 weeks into the pregnancy and weigh about 3 pounds.

Anyone with information about the baby's whereabouts is asked to contact Mason City Police at 641-421-3636.


Read more: http://globegazette.com/news/local/no-new-details-released-on-missing-baby/article_74161f10-3bcd-11e1-9539-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1j9y1CoKw

Mason City police have no new leads in their three-week search for a missing newborn baby.
Chief Michael Lashbrook says his department has exhausted general leads.
Lashbrook says investigators need new specifics from someone or some evidence that would take them in a direction they haven't already covered.
An umbilical cord and placenta were found in a restroom at the Iowa Workforce Development office in Mason City on Jan. 7. Officers talked to a 19-year-old Charles City woman who they believe is the mother. Lashbrook says she isn't cooperating but has not been charged with any crime connected to the search.
The baby is believed to be premature and weigh about 3 pounds.


http://www.kgan.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/kgan_vid_9745.shtml

arrest her!!