Couple find, rescue baby left in their backyard shed

LIVINGSTON, Texas (KHOU) - A Texas couple were startled to find a baby on the ground in their backyard shed but took care of her until authorities arrived. The baby’s father is now in custody on multiple charges.

John and Katharine McClain woke up Saturday morning to the sound of their neighbor’s pickup truck taking off. Their security camera caught a mostly naked man checking their vehicle’s doors before allegedly stealing the truck.

The couple called their neighbors, who reported the truck stolen. With that, they thought all the excitement was over, but it had just begun.

Video shows the McClains’ dog, Archie, barking at something in their backyard shed. When John McClain went over to investigate, he made a startling discovery.

“Come out here with him about the time I heard a cry,” John McClain said. “So, when I opened it up, the baby was laying right by the motorcycle.”

He alerted his wife, who first thought he meant a baby snake or some other animal.

“He said, ‘Call 911. There’s a baby.’ I thought he was just kidding. I was like, ‘OK, a baby snake, a baby what?’ He said, ‘Call 911 quick. There’s an infant in here,’” she said.

Katharine McClain called 911 and says the dispatcher told her it was OK to pick up the baby, so she did, before taking her up to the house. Photos show her holding the child, wrapped in a towel, while awaiting an ambulance.

The baby was checked out on site before being airlifted to Houston. Her condition is unknown, but it’s believed she will be OK.

“I’m a mom. I was pretty frantic and distraught. It’s still kind of got me a little bit,” Katharine McClain said.

Authorities say the neighbors’ stolen truck was later located with the suspect seen on video, who is also the baby’s father, behind the wheel. Records show he is now in the Polk County Jail on charges including abandoning or endangering a child.

The McClains were told the suspect’s vehicle was found abandoned along the railroad tracks that run right behind their property.

The couple says their security camera recorded the suspect holding the baby before going into the shed. He appeared to spend hours inside with her before leaving and allegedly stealing the truck.

“I just hope he comes out and takes care of his kid, cleans his act up,” John McClain said.

Katharine McClain says they’d be willing to add the baby to their family, if needed.

“I just want her to be happy and live a good life, and if they give her to me, I’ll take her in a heartbeat and she’ll never have any worries again,” she said.

Copyright 2022 KHOU via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.