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Newborn returned after being abducted from hospital

Hospital Safety Connection, February 17, 2004

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A newborn boy taken from a Windsor, ON, hospital is safe after his father turned him over to police on February 1, a day after the baby's disappearance led police to issue a province-wide Amber Alert, the Canadian Press reports.

Bret Lamb, 23, walked into a Toronto police station early on February 1 and placed the infant into the care of authorities. As of press time, the search continued for the child's mother, Diane Coleman, 25.

The baby is doing well and being cared for at a Toronto hospital. He was born on January 31 at Windsor Regional Hospital. Nurses noticed he was suffering slight tremors and recommended he stay for observation; they also called in Children's Aid Society workers to talk to the mother. Authorities suspected the symptoms were a result of prenatal drug use.

A few hours after the workers left, hospital staff realized both the child and his parents had disappeared. Police issued an Amber Alert, sending news of the newborn's removal from the hospital to radio and television stations across Ontario. Although the mother was legally entitled to leave with her child, concerns about the infant's safety led police to issue the alert.

The alert system was put in place in Ontario in September 2001, and police have used it only three times before last weekend's alert.

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