TROUP COUNTY, Ga. — He was searching for a house to buy when he made the horrific discovery: a baby in a cooler on the side of the road. The child was dead.
It happened Jan. 6 on Boy Scout Road in Troup County.
A caller told a 911 dispatcher that he saw a bag on the side of the road. When he opened the bag, he saw the child.
"It's a dead baby," he said. "It's a dead baby...I'm about to have a heart attack."
The Troup County Sheriff's Office said the child was a white girl and had no obvious signs of trauma or injury. She was full term. An autopsy did not determine the cause of death, but blood tests are pending, according to state released on Tuesday.
Investigators determined that the cooler had been in the same spot on the side of the road for several days, perhaps up to a week.
Sergeant Stewart Smith with the Troup County Sheriff's Office said that investigators hope the picture of the cooler will help solve the case.
"There is no excuse why they disposed of it like it was, or why they disposed of the child like they did," Smith said. "But again, we just want to know the circumstances of what happened and what led up to the death of this child."
Troup County authorities are asking anyone who knows of an expectant mother or one who was full-term but no longer has a child to call them at 706-883-1616. Tipsters can also provide information to the Troup County Crime Stoppers line at 706-812-1000.
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