PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – A stillborn infant was found with his homeless mother at a street side bus stop during unusually cold weather. And while the infant’s death was not blamed on below-freezing temperatures it has driven home just how ruthless this winter has been for Portland’s homeless population, with four recent deaths attributed to exposure.
The infant was found Jan. 9 after emergency responders were called about a woman standing in the cold with a baby. The Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office said Tuesday that the baby boy was stillborn.
The mother was unable to provide investigators with coherent information, including where she had been living, and is undergoing a mental health evaluation at a hospital, said Sgt. Pete Simpson, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau.
“In the bigger umbrella of people who are vulnerable, it is an awful reminder of people living in the community who are sometimes hidden away that don’t have shelter or medical care, or in this case, the mental capacity to seek medical care,” Simpson said.
The infant’s death was first reported Monday by Willamette Week, a weekly Portland newspaper, after four homeless adults died this month, which has brought snow, ice and bone-chilling temperatures to a city more accustomed to mild temperatures and rain.