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2-Month-Old Abandoned Near Severn Church

SEVERN, Md. (WJZ) -- Anne Arundel County Police charged a mother with child desertion after a youth minister at a church in Severn found a 2-month-old infant abandoned near the church door.

Derek Valcourt has more on the child's condition and the bizarre behavior of the little boy's mother.

The good news is that the child is safe and sound after being found alone here at the church. Right now, we don't know why his mother left him.

As a father of two little kids himself, Josh Sillaman couldn't believe what he found as he showed up to work around noon on Monday at the Grace Point Presbyterian Church in Severn.

"As I approached the building, I heard a baby crying," Sillaman said.

A 2-month-old sitting in a car seat was tucked in a corner near the church's main entrance. The little boy had a blanket and a small amount of milk in a bottle next to him.

"It was very strange to see somebody wanted him to have some milk but clearly he can't feed himself," Sillaman said. "I looked for a note [but there was] no note. I called 911 right away and they were there within five minutes."

Monday was a hot day so the baby was taken away from the church by ambulance to the Baltimore Washington Medical Center as a precaution to make sure he had no health problems.

Police say relatives of the infant's mother, 32-year-old Pettricia Finch-Miller, had reported the baby missing earlier that morning, launching a search and investigation.

"At some point it appears that mother abandoned her child, then went and picked up two of her other children, a 10 and 13-year-old, and fled the area," said Justin Mulcahy, Anne Arundel County Police spokesperson.

With help from relatives, police found the mother and her two daughters, who had traveled all the way to a motel in Fredericksburg, Va. The mother now faces misdemeanor charges of neglect and desertion.

Sillaman calls it God's grace that the child is alive and well.

"I've been praying since I found the baby that it was going to be OK and that somehow it would work out for his betterment. I have no idea what the situation is with his mom but I just pray that he's OK," Sillaman said.

The boy's paternal grandmother says she will now be petitioning the court for full custody.

Maryland's Safe Haven Law only allows parents to drop off infants at a safe location if the child is less than 10 days old.

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