Laundry service workers in Red Wing, Minnesota found the body of a stillborn baby wrapped up in bed sheets, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
According to Red Wing Police Chief Roger Pohlman, by the time police arrived at Crothall Laundry a little before 12:30 p.m., an employee of a hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota had already picked up the body. Crothall Laundry commonly washes hospital linens.
Since the body was taken before law enforcement arrived, a race or gender could not be confirmed, according to Pohlman. However, he said someone showed officers a picture of the body. Authorities also interviewed employees of the laundry service.
"What we have is that when they were preparing the laundry, a baby had fallen out of a sheet, and that they had called the hospital where the laundry had come from, and that they immediately sent people down to pick it up,” Pohlman said. “It was after this had taken place that we received a call.”
The linen in which the employees found the body was delivered within the previous 48 hours, said Pohlman.
Authorities declined to release the name of the hospital.
Pohlman said he's not aware of any contact being made to the parents of the baby.
“It’s tough; that’s why we’re trying to do a thorough job and be careful that we don’t try to speculate,” he said. “Right now, there’s just so many unanswered questions, and we want to respect the hospital’s and family’s rights. Somebody should know where this came from. Until we can get it all pieced together, I want to make sure that we respect everyone involved.”
According to Pohlman, the Red Wing police department has reached out to the St. Paul police department in an effort to work together on what is being called a “death investigation.” However, most of the information received has been from witnesses.
A Crothall Laundry spokeswoman said Tuesday that she would not give comment. She expects company officials to release an official statement on Wednesday.
