Police say an abandoned toddler left on a stranger's doorsteps in South Carolina Tuesday has been identified. After an investigation, the parents of 4-year-old Zoe Brown from Marietta Ga. were arrested for unlawful neglect of a child, according to an April 7 Huffington Post news update.
The mystery of the toddler, abandoned early this week began when the doorbell at Roy Campbell's home in Georgia rang. However, when he looked out the door, there was no one. Upon closer inspection, he found a child left alone in a stroller.
The little girl, who wore a shirt with the words, "Auntie Loves Me," didn't have any identifying information with her. However, written across her diaper were the words, "Call DFAC," known as the Division of Family and Child Services.
Campbell took the child inside and called local police, who arrived a short time later.
"I heard the neighbor's dogs barking so I went around the back of the house to see if they might have gone there. When I didn't see anyone, I went back to the front door and noticed that there was a baby in the stroller."
Authorities sought help from the public by posting the girl's picture on their website. In a short time, the photo was shared over 2 million times.
Within days, police identified the abandoned toddler as Zoe Brown. And then on Friday, the parents were arrested.
Alonzo Brown, 31, (pictured here) and Tongela Denise McBride, 37, (shown here) were taken into custody after a four-day investigation. However, authorities didn't elaborate on what led them to suspect the couple.
South Carolina has Daniel's Law, which promotes a safe haven for abandoned and unwanted children. It also gives individuals immunity from prosecution by turning in a child to a defined "Safe Haven."
However, the parents of the abandoned child can't use this law as a defense; the state law only applies to children 30 days and younger. Additionally, a person's home is not necessarily considered a "Safe Haven."
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