Two newborns found dead last week in a Chicago day care center bathroom were discovered in a garbage bag after their mother − an employee at the facility − was found covered in blood near their bodies, new information in the case shows.
According to a police report obtained by the Chicago Sun Times, a cleaning worker discovered the baby girls in a first-floor bathroom just before 7 p.m. Thursday at a child care center in Streeterville, a neighborhood in the city’s Near North Side.
USA TODAY has requested a copy of the report from the Chicago Police Department.
The unconscious babies were taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital where police, last week said, they were pronounced dead.
A missing worker and a 911 call
The babies’ 29-year-old mother, who works at the daycare, also takes a class at the Bright Horizons-operated facility, according to the report obtained by the outlet. When she missed a class Thursday, employees searched for her and, just before 6 p.m., found her in the bathroom and dialed 911.
The woman was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she underwent surgery, the outlet and local ABC 7 in Chicago reported.
About an hour after she was taken to the hospital, staff began cleaning the bathroom and discovered a black garbage bag in a cabinet with the newborns inside, the outlets reported.
It was not immediately known if she had been charged in connection to her twins’ deaths.
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Their cause of death was not immediately known.
The daycare is on the Northwestern Memorial Hospital campus and no day care children were involved or impacted, hospital spokesman Christopher King told USA TODAY Monday.
The woman is not a Northwestern employee, King said, but employed by Bright Horizons.
“We are working with CPD regarding this incident and unable to comment further at this time,” King said in the statement.
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‘A medical emergency’
Bright Horizons operates the Bernice E. Lavin Childhood Educational Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
According to a statement released to USA TODAY from Bright Horizons, the incident took place at the center when a staff member “experienced a medical emergency that resulted in the unanticipated delivery of newborn twin babies.”
“All children and families enrolled at the center are safe and none were involved in the incident. We are providing emotional and mental health support to all members of our center team and families,” the statement continued. “We ask for support and respect for everyone involved at this time as we grieve together and work to support each other and any ensuing investigation.”
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
