Chicago Ridge Police search for parents of black baby found dead at recycling center

The body of a newborn boy was discovered in a lunch cooler at a southwest suburban recycling plant early this morning, authorities said.

An employee at a recycling plant at 10111 Anderson Avenue in Chicago Ridge noticed a soft, red lunch cooler on a conveyor belt during a sorting operation, Chicago Ridge police said. He noticed it seemed heavy, opened it and found the boy with his umbilical cord attached as well as a blue towel, officials said.

Police and paramedics were sent to the Resource Management Companies recycling plant at 4:06 a.m. An autopsy on the newborn by the Cook County medical examiner's office is scheduled for Thursday.

“We don’t even know if a crime was committed at this point,” said Chicago Ridge Deputy Police Chief Paul Landry.

Landry said plant workers were sorting a load of material delivered the previous afternoon by Advanced Disposal, which had picked it up in Waukegan and Pleasant Prairie, Wis.

The material was then taken to Kenosha before being loaded onto a trailer and driven to Chicago Ridge, Landry said.

Illinois State Police were processing the scene and were focusing their investigation in the area around where those pickups took place.

Landry urged anyone who might have information about the newborn to contact Chicago Ridge police.