By JOSEPH KELLARD
An employee of the commercial laundry service was separating soiled laundry in a crate at around 8:45 p.m. Feb. 21 when he noticed what he believed was an intravenous bag wrapped in a blanket. ³In the course of emptying one of these crates, he discovers what he eventually realizes was the body of this child,² said Detective Lt. Dennis Farrell, commander of Nassau County¹s Homicide Squad, at a press conference the following day. Farrell said police believe the incident was not criminal, but likely a ³mistake in hospital procedure ... I honestly don¹t believe it was an intentional act.²
The infant girl, who was found wearing a bracelet around her ankle indicating that she had been at SNCH, was born four months premature, weighing just 10 ounces, at 2:20 p.m. on Feb. 19. She lived for about 30 minutes before hospital staff pronounced her dead. In their initial investigation, police determined that the infant was listed as being in the hospital morgue as her family made her funeral arrangements, but somehow she was transferred to the laundry company.
Farrell said that while investigators are unsure how the transfer occurred, they believe that soon after the girl was born, an unknown hospital worker failed to see the infant among soiled linen inside a refrigerated vault, and placed the linen and the body in a laundry cart that was later shipped out to the commercial laundry company.
Farrell said police would continue to investigate the details of the transfer, and that the hospital would conduct its own internal investigation. ³Our investigation is continuing,² said Sgt. David Curry. ³We¹re trying to figure out how that happened. We don¹t know at this time. And the hospital, also, is trying to find that information out too.²
SNCH declined to comment, but released a statement saying that after the baby was pronounced dead, she was wrapped in a blanket, secured in a shroud and placed in the hospital¹s morgue, consistent with hospital procedure. ³The hospital, in conjunction with officials, immediately began its own review of this unfortunate event,² the statement read. ³ŠThe hospital contacted the mother to inform her of the situation and to offer any assistance the family might require.²
Oceanside Linen Services, at 2525 Long Beach Road, which called the police and the hospital to report finding the child, declined comment. Farrell described Oceanside Linen Services as a ³vast warehouse² that services mostly hospitals.
Farrell added that police have been in contact with the infant¹s parents, saying only that they live in Queens. The parents released a statement saying that they loved the child and that they already had a name picked out for her.
³The odds against [her] survival were enormous,² said Farrell.
