An Indianapolis man was shocked to discover two babies abandoned in a ditch when he went outside to pick up a package.
Robert Deane had ventured just a few feet from his front door to see if his package had been delivered, but as he looked around he saw the two baby girls in their car seats.
The babies, a four-month-old and a five-month-old, were reported missing around 11 a.m. when the 2013 Hyundai Sonata they were riding in the backseat was stolen.
Deane quickly brought the missing babies inside and called the police.
“One of them screamed, so I immediately grabbed the car seats and brought them inside. We let them warm up and called 911,” he said CBS4.
It was 27 degrees outside when he found them.
Deane told me USA today: ‘I would do it again. If you see something, like a baby in a ditch, say something, do something.”
The stolen car was found near the children around the same time Deane alerted police to the babies’ whereabouts.
A four-month-old baby and a five-month-old were found in a ditch outside Robert Deane’s home on Monday morning
The babies were found in a ditch about four miles from where the car was stolen
“It’s cold out here,” Indianapolis police spokesman William Young told USA Today. “Who knows what could have happened if this particular person hadn’t been able to come out.”
He then praised Deane for saving the babies from the freezing weather.
Young said, “He did what any good person would do. He gave those children shelter. This is an outcome we wanted.
“I can’t thank that good Samaritan enough.”
The little girls, who relatives said were cousins, were unharmed. Deane, whose birthday was Monday, said it was the best gift he could have asked for.
Police are still looking for the person who stole the car from East Gimber Street and left the little girls about four miles away in the 1300 block of Riley Avenue.
“We do not have a suspect in custody, but that will be our next priority: finding out who is responsible for this particular incident,” Young said.
A similar carjacking occurred in July when a Florida man stole an SUV and dumped the three-year-old girl inside on the side of a busy road.
The 2013 Hyundai Sonata was reported stolen along with the babies around 11 a.m. Monday
Police said Willio Petioma, 35, was arrested after an anonymous tip to the Broward Sheriff’s Office and was caught on camera taking the child from the car.
He stole the car when the girl’s mother got out to exchange information with another driver after a minor car accident in Fort Lauderdale.
In another incident in July, an Ohio mother died trying to save her son when a thief stole her car with him in the backseat.
Alexa Stakely, 29, threw herself onto the hood of the vehicle as the car sped away before falling off, causing fatal head injuries.
She tried to protect her six-year-old son, who was sleeping in the backseat.
Stakley later died from her injuries.