Twin infant boys found abandoned near railway tracks in Massachusetts: 'Saddest thing I’ve heard'
Police in Massachusetts are investigating after twin infant boys were found abandoned near train tracks in Worcester.
Officers from the Worcester Police Department were dispatched to a Cambridge Street address for a check on welfare on the morning of Wednesday, July 3, at around 12:15 am, according to a press release. Twin infants were reported missing.
A short time later, railroad employees had located the twins, said to be approximately nine months old, by themselves in the area of the railroad tracks near Kansas Street — which is used half a mile away from the Cambridge Street address — and subsequently called 911.
Paramedics responded to the scene and took the children to the hospital. The WPD said that both "appeared to be unharmed."
CBS Boston reported that it was one Eric Martell who spotted the children. "It was the happiest I’ve ever been to hear a baby cry in my life," he said. "Everything happens for a reason I believe and we were able to make a difference."
Georgeanna Broadard, who lives near the tracks where the twins were found, said she could not understand how someone could do such a thing. "I can’t see how anyone can do that to babies where there are so many safe havens around," she said.
"It’s sad because there’s a church right there – Sacred Heart Church, she could’ve brought the babies. She could’ve knocked on anyone’s door wherever she was. I’m sure she could’ve knocked on anyone’s door and anyone would’ve helped her. I would have."
The children have reportedly been identified and are in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
Local resident Carl Wooden revealed he was with the woman who abandoned the babies a short time before it happened and said, "I'm angry. I'm sad. I'm confused."
"I'm in shock still. I'm, like, walking around in circles just totally in awe," he added. "I just left the police station for questioning and stuff like that. It's traumatizing, to me, that something like this could even happen."
Farid Atta, another resident of the neighborhood, said she hoped the culprit would be punished severely. "This is the saddest thing I’ve heard," she said. "We’ve been living here 10 years, and I have never heard of anything like that happening. Whoever did this should be prosecuted to the most extent of the law."
Worcester Police detectives and the DCF is currently investigating the case, and anyone with information has been encouraged to call the Worcester Police Detective Bureau at (508) 799-8651.
They can also send an anonymous text to 274637 TIPWPD + your message or send an anonymous web based message at worcesterma.gov/police.