Lawmen, firefighters raise $6,000 for baby's funeral

5/11/2004

PORT CLINTON - The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office and the Allen-Clay Joint Fire District have raised more than $6,000 in donations to pay for the funeral and burial of a newborn baby girl who was found dead last month under a bridge near Curtice.

"It's been overwhelming. There's been a tremendous outpouring," said Bob Bratton, chief deputy of the sheriff's office. Because of the fund-raising effort, the infant will have a casket and a burial plot and a headstone in Allen Township Cemetery in Williston, he said.

A funeral will be conducted once authorities release the body. Chief Deputy Bratton said authorities want to be sure they have all possible evidence before the child is buried. Sheriff's investigators suspect the baby, who weighed about 6 pounds at birth, was left in Cedar Creek by her mother. The body was found April 11.