Infant left behind at Eugene park returned to parents

By Nicole Comstock and KVAL News Published: Oct 4, 2012 at 2:10 PM PDT Last Updated: Oct 4, 2012 at 9:46 PM PDT

EUGENE, Ore. - An infant left in a parking space at a city park while her parents were distracted by another child is OK, police said.

Distracted by another child, the parents drove off and left their two-month-old daughter in a parking space at Emerald Park. Sergeant Gordon Gill with Lane County Sheriff's Office reported that the incident at the River Road neighborhood park was an accident.

"(They) accidentally  just got into the car and left the baby in car seat next to the car as they drove off." Gill said.

The sheriff's office got a call at 12:50 p.m. reporting an unattended infant in the parking lot.

There were several witnesses at the park who watched the car drive off without the baby. One of the witnesses brought the baby to a safe location before calling 9-1-1.

KVAL News went to Emerald Park and spoke to Patrick Burke, a witness who saw law enforcement respond to the scene and the upset mother return to the park.

"There was a mother who was walking from the park area with a young child in a carrier and seemed a bit upset." Burke said. "'She look ok? Yeah, yeah, the baby was fine slept thought the whole thing.'"

Burke said that these kinds of accidents happen, years ago he and his wife forgot their son at preschool. 

The mother and her baby were reunited with the help of the Grand Ronde Tribe. They have a strict no comment policy on child welfare cases.