IL - Matisha Goens charged with abandoning baby, Chcago, 1 Jan 2010

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It makes me wonder if the mother (if that's who the woman was) is in danger herself.
Possibly an abusive spouse, and wanted to get the baby out of harms way. But, she would have taken the punishment for that decision, so I really want her to be found, just in case she is in danger. Or worse, by this point.
 
jjenny said:
They obviously have to investigate.
The child is older than 30 days. Also there is no guarantee that the woman who left the child is actually the child's mother.
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You are so right. They don't know if the "drop-off" woman is the child's mom, and until they find her, they will not know if Mom is safe, or a victim of crime. If indeed it was the mom who dropped that beautiful little girl off, then I hope they decide not to prosecute. A mother would have to be desperate to do such a thing, and I am so glad she didn't abuse the baby.
 
In many societies throughout history, babies have been left at convents, churches, police stations. Thousands of Korean/American adoptees share this story as social services in S. Korea did not support single parenting or domestic adoptions until the 80s. Babies left at police stations (usually aged 3-9 months) typically had notes pinned on their clothing with "instructions". The birth mothers would sit across from the stations watching carefully until the babies were known to be rescued. Given the stigma at the time, the Moms had very little choice. Can you imagine the anguish? Thank goodness this is changing now.

When you think about it, this woman followed all the rules of the Safe Haven Law, other than the 30 day issue. If she is in this country illegally, she might not know the rules and she also might not know that she could get emergency help for her child, and herself if she's in danger. There could be some connection with her dropping off the baby at the beginning of the month or year. Possibly, she just lost her unemployment and/or foodstamps.

But, she did make certain that she made verbal contact with a person before she left. IMO, the child was never in danger and was appropriately clothed for the weather. I'm wondering if area surveillance cameras caught her on tape--either entering or exiting the area.

I really expect that someone is going to come forth with some information about this beautiful little girl once the photos and descriptions are widely circulated. If she's the legal parent, DHS might be able to determine if there is a family member available to her.

If the baby was abducted, we all just got very lucky and had a child dropped off at a.......Safe Haven.
 
I have diamond earrings...nice strollers...good blankets....never bought ONE of them. ALl gifts. ALl i'm saying is it's just a preposterous to say that the family was well to do as it is to say the woman who dropped the child off is beyond doubt the mother... we know NONE of this yet... Praying that the baby finds a very loving and caring home!
 
It looks like they found the mom and are charging her:

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7203585

Not much new information, just the mother's name and age. I'm a bit sad they're charging her after saying they wouldn't. I have a daughter the same age as this baby, and I can't imagine making the decision to leave her. I think either she couldn't take care of her any longer, or PPD.
 
Well, this isn't the fairy tale ending we all wanted but it is some closure. I appreciate the fact that the authorities are making it clear that the woman "followed the spirit of the Safe Haven law". I'm very glad they did that in case another parent is in the same situation. We'd far rather babies be dropped off at police stations than some of the alternatives we deal with everyday.

I wonder if this Mom might not have a serious mental illness (Ms. Goens is exactly the right age for onset). And, no, that most definitely does not excuse this action--not at all. This child is obviously very well cared for. Either the mom is to thank for that or a family member or friend. They might be a resource for the child. But if this is the second time she's abandoned her daughter, something is very wrong and she needs serious help and/or punitive consequences. This is like so many other child welfare cases. There's just not much black and white. There's almost always some grey areas.

My one request would be that the media immediately remove all photos of this child from their websites. They've done this for other children and they need to do it for this little one.
 
STEADFAST said:
She's being charged for failure to appear on a previous charge of endangering this same child. She left her in a car in a parking lot in September. There's been a warrant out for her arrest since October.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1973774,child-abandoned-warrant-wanted-010510.article
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So sad! This makes me wonder if she thought she'd be going to jail and/or have the baby taken away. I wonder if she was contemplating suicide and needed to know that the baby was someplace safe. Or if this court date was a low point in feeling capable of being a good mother.

Whatever happened, I am so glad that this baby is safe. I pray that both of them will get whatever help or intervention they need so that this child has a safe and happy life.
 
Missizzy said:
...if this is the second time she's abandoned her daughter, something is very wrong and she needs serious help and/or punitive consequences...
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(snipped for space)

I might've read a different article than you did (one of the links above didn't pull up for me, for whatever reason), but it sounded to me like the first incident of leaving her alone in the car may not have been a true "abandonment," at least as far as I'm thinking of it (as in permanently leaving her behind, intentionally).

The baby was found alone, strapped into the front seat of a 2007 Chevy Cobalt, which I presume the mother intended to return to (?). Definitely not advisable to leave a child alone in a car, I agree, but it seems possible that it was done -- albeit in bad judgment -- for the sake of convenience.

Someone will have to remind me: Is it okay to ever have an infant strapped into that front seat in a vehicle that (presumably) has airbags on both sides? Maybe if the infant's car seat is not rear-facing, it's allowed for a certain age range? I can't remember. If it's not allowed, that strikes me as iffy, too.

Is it possible that this mom could be one of those types who took the initial Child Endangerment charge so hard that she was beating herself up over it, and felt she truly wasn't deserving of her daughter after realizing what a horrible mistake she had made by leaving her alone? Just based on some of the other factors (i.e., how well the baby generally appeared to have been cared for, etc.), it makes me wonder.
 
angelmom said:
So sad! This makes me wonder if she thought she'd be going to jail and/or have the baby taken away. I wonder if she was contemplating suicide and needed to know that the baby was someplace safe. Or if this court date was a low point in feeling capable of being a good mother.

Whatever happened, I am so glad that this baby is safe. I pray that both of them will get whatever help or intervention they need so that this child has a safe and happy life.
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Angelmom, your post wasn't up yet when I began my last one, and I wanted to say that I think we are on somewhat the same page with our thoughts about the mom!

I'll admit that I hadn't considered the potential consideration-of-suicide aspect, but I do think she likely had some of the fears you have mentioned here, like the possibility of going to jail or having the baby taken away, and also the bit about it being a "low point" in feeling she was capable of taking care of her little girl properly after she was charged with child endangerment and asked to appear in court (and then didn't!).
 
I was involved in a case where a mother left her newborn in her minivan and went shopping at TJ Maxx. I was parked next to the van and thought I head a young, young baby crying. I finally peaked into the back of the van and there was an infant in a car seat whose hat was over his face. It was cold...zero degrees. I went into TJ maxx and had the vehicle paged, then went back out and stood next to the van-I was worried he would suffocate. No one came-I went back into the store they paged the vehicle info again-again nothing. I called 911, and just as the police were about to shatter the van windows, she comes marching out screaming curse words at the police and myself-baby was 3 weeks old....I gave a witness statement and much to my surprise 4 months later was called to testify-CPS went to check on her within a week of the incident and found this well heeled woman with 4 children and an infant clearly completely overwhelmed and disturbed. She checked herself into the hospital the night before the trial for PPD and postpartum psychosis....there was a happy ending ultimately for her.

The previous endangerment incident for this mom in Chicago might have been a cry for help-dropping the baby off at the police station clearly was.

I hope she finds peace.
 
Just from a quick search it looks like this lady has no relatives. Like at all. It shows she once lived in Alabama. There's only one other person by that name in Alabama and it looks like the woman was in the service and lived all over the country.

However it shows this baby's mom did go to High School in Chicago. I'm just thinking she is all alone in this world and has no help and feels she can not do justice to this absolutely beautiful little girl. I hope her mama gets the help she needs and the sweet lil Miss has a good life filled with love.
 
believe09 -

How distressing to have witnessed that! Thank goodness you heard the baby, paid attention, and followed up! It makes me so sad to think of this happening, but what a relief that there was no permanent harm to the baby and that he & his siblings were checked out sooner rather than later.

Sometimes, I think infants or young children truly are left in a car by complete mistake, and often the results are no less tragic.

My mother knows a lady whose daughter left one of her children in a car for a brief period of time once by complete mistake, totally unintentionally. She had two small kids, and the oldest had just been dropped at his new preschool. The youngest was very young, and as is often the case in these types of situations, they had a "new routine" that day. Apparently, the baby was a much quieter child than her older one had been, so she didn't have some of the "cues" she must've been used to.

Anyway, she was going to Hallmark to pick up a gift or card for someone quick, and was in the store browsing for a few minutes before realizing her brand new baby was still out in the car! She panicked, but it had only been about 3-5 minutes and fortunately it was a time of year where the temps wouldn't have been an issue. Nonetheless, she was a blubbering wreck once she realized this, and had difficulty coming to grips with it afterwards (lots of guilt, etc.)

She told her mother that she then understood how this truly "could" happen to someone who completely had no intentions of doing it.

I know it's hard to excuse her, but this truly does not seem to be a neglectful mother in any way, from what I know of their family and seeing how things developed from that point forward (it was over 10 years ago now that this occurred). Another big sigh of relief, in any case!
 
Filly said:
Just from a quick search it looks like this lady has no relatives. Like at all. It shows she once lived in Alabama. There's only one other person by that name in Alabama and it looks like the woman was in the service and lived all over the country.

However it shows this baby's mom did go to High School in Chicago. I'm just thinking she is all alone in this world and has no help and feels she can not do justice to this absolutely beautiful little girl. I hope her mama gets the help she needs and the sweet lil Miss has a good life filled with love.
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I agree with your last statement completely!

Re: her lack of family, that's sad, if true. Of course, I suppose some of us have families that we can count on for absolutely zero, and others have no family but very healthy support systems. Still, I get what you're saying, and it could certainly factor in.

I'd be curious to know how this all turns out from here on out, but wonder if we'll hear much more, now that she's been arrested?
 
Solstice Canyon said:
believe09 -

How distressing to have witnessed that! Thank goodness you heard the baby, paid attention, and followed up! It makes me so sad to think of this happening, but what a relief that there was no permanent harm to the baby and that he & his siblings were checked out sooner rather than later.

Sometimes, I think infants or young children truly are left in a car by complete mistake, and often the results are no less tragic.

My mother knows a lady whose daughter left one of her children in a car for a brief period of time once by complete mistake, totally unintentionally. She had two small kids, and the oldest had just been dropped at his new preschool. The youngest was very young, and as is often the case in these types of situations, they had a "new routine" that day. Apparently, the baby was a much quieter child than her older one had been, so she didn't have some of the "cues" she must've been used to.

Anyway, she was going to Hallmark to pick up a gift or card for someone quick, and was in the store browsing for a few minutes before realizing her brand new baby was still out in the car! She panicked, but it had only been about 3-5 minutes and fortunately it was a time of year where the temps wouldn't have been an issue. Nonetheless, she was a blubbering wreck once she realized this, and had difficulty coming to grips with it afterwards (lots of guilt, etc.)

She told her mother that she then understood how this truly "could" happen to someone who completely had no intentions of doing it.

I know it's hard to excuse her, but this truly does not seem to be a neglectful mother in any way, from what I know of their family and seeing how things developed from that point forward (it was over 10 years ago now that this occurred). Another big sigh of relief, in any case!
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Thanks SC-I was surprised it made it to trial to be honest in my case-Mom was hiding in the fitting room during the broadcasts of her car/license info. My issue was that she had no idea why the info was being paged-the baby could have been stolen, her car hit...a number of things. But she chose to hide. And then she acted out when she was caught. I felt for her because she was clearly hurting and overwhelmed, and found the support she needed once she was compelled to answer for what she did.

In this case, I am sure that depression is a factor as well...only because many suffer greatly after giving birth-and decisionmaking is impaired. Not excused, IMO, but definitely impaired....
 
http://www.wbbm780.com/Details-emerge-in-abandoned-baby-case/6049825

"According to state officials, the baby never should have been with the mother to begin with...

"...State officials say the child was turned over to the father - with the condition that the mother would not have access to the child."

Child now in foster care.

Very strange!

I'm still not sure why if the child is under 30 days old there will be no investigation as to whether or not it was really a parent who dropped the baby off, whether or not the other parent is out there and wondering where the child is, what the baby's medical history may be, etc., but if the child is OLDER than 30 days it WILL be investigated. On one hand this particular baby's mother does sound like she needs to be investigated. On the other hand, IMO the handling of this case unintentionally encourages unstable parents to do the unthinkable rather than leave their children somewhere safe or try to get help.
 
Filly said:
Just from a quick search it looks like this lady has no relatives. Like at all. It shows she once lived in Alabama. There's only one other person by that name in Alabama and it looks like the woman was in the service and lived all over the country.

However it shows this baby's mom did go to High School in Chicago. I'm just thinking she is all alone in this world and has no help and feels she can not do justice to this absolutely beautiful little girl. I hope her mama gets the help she needs and the sweet lil Miss has a good life filled with love.
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The lady couldn't possibly be all alone in this world, considering the baby has a father who the baby was supposed to be with.
 
i see so there's actually a state, if i recall, where you can literally anbandon 16 year olds at a hospital and get away with it now......but drop a 6 month baby off at the police station instead of in a dumpster or the middle of the street, and that's criminal.
this is a messed up world.
 
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