OCEAN SHORES, Wash. — Police have located a 21-year-old Grays Harbor woman who they believe is the birth mother of an infant whose body was found Friday in a wooded area of Ocean Shores.
Authorities said a woman was walking her dog around 6 p.m. in the 200 block of Fisher Avenue Northeast when she spotted a rag on a branch and looked into the woods, where she saw the body of an infant.
The Grays Harbor coroner took the body of the infant, and identified the infant as a girl.
On Sunday afternoon, an autopsy was conducted and a Grays Harbor coroner confirmed the infant died as a result of skull fractures and brain injuries due to a blunt force injury to the head.
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News spoke with Lori Nowitzki, who lives near where the body was discovered.
“It’s very sad. We don’t know what would cause somebody to do something like that or what the circumstances are, but it was devastating. I have children, a grandchild. It’s heart-wrenching,” said Nowitzki.
The Hoquiam Police Department and Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office assisted the Ocean Shores Police Department in the investigation.
Investigators asked Nowitzki if she saw anything suspicious.
“We, of course, didn’t have a lot of details last night and we’re praying for the best, but of course, it didn’t turn out that way,” Nowitzki said.
Police tell KIRO 7 that it appears the infant had been born recently. They believe she was born at a local motel and then taken to the woods.
Police Chief Jeff Meyers of the Hoquiam Police Department said a tip led authorities to a 21-year-old woman and her boyfriend.
Police believe the woman is the birth mother, and it is unknown at this time if the boyfriend is the father.
Detectives will investigate the incident as a homicide.
KIRO
