Cops: MLB Star's Daughter Left Newborn in Woods

A 26-year-old woman has been charged with several counts after police said she gave birth in the New Hampshire woods, abandoned the newborn in a tent, and misled them about where they could find the infant. The child now is hospitalized and doing well, a police spokesman said. Alexandra Eckersley, 26, is also hospitalized, NBC News reports. She's the daughter of baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley. Her child eventually was found, uncovered, on the floor of an unheated tent, on a night when the wind chill dropped to 6 degrees, Manchester police said, per ABC News.

The arrest affidavit gives this account, per NBC: Eckersley called 911 about 12:30am Monday, saying that she'd given birth in the woods. Police, fire, and medical crews began searching for the infant. A state police K-9 unit also took part, on the assumption that the newborn might not have survived. Nearly an hour into the search, Eckersley "revealed the true location of the baby and led officers to the area." At a campsite, they found the infant, moving, on the ground next to a bed, inside a tent consisting of tarps. The discovery came one hour, 13 minutes after Eckersley, whom the filing said is homeless, had called 911.

The newborn weighed 4.41 pounds and probably was born prematurely, possibly around six months, on Sunday, court documents say. Eckersley said she had "no idea" that she was pregnant and that she was in pain on Sunday but thought it was due to constipation or hemorrhaging. However, the affidavit says Eckersley told someone the week before that she was four or five months pregnant. Officers said she appeared to be under the influence of drugs. "I don't think it's unreasonable at all that she was disoriented, confused, possibly suffering from hypothermia if she had just given birth outside in the elements," her lawyer said. She faces charges including reckless conduct, second-degree assault by extreme indifference, falsifying physical evidence, and endangering the welfare of a child. (More abandoned baby stories.)