Hartford (WTNH) -- A search is underway to try and locate the family of the toddler found left alone in his stroller Saturday night.Mary Melvin has seen a lot in the 17-years she's lived at the Atwood Apartments, but she never expected to find a toddler alone on her doorstep.
"I was picking up my mail and the baby was here, in the corner," Melvin said. "You couldn't see him from the road."
The little boy, estimated to be 18-months to two-years-old, was sitting in his stroller right in the lobby for at least two hours, Melvin thinks.
"I was surprised, you know," Melvin said. "I didn't know what to make of it at first."
So, she called the police.
"It does not appear to be a neglect issue here as far as the child's clothing, how well he was kept," Lt. Mark Tedeschi of the Hartford Police Department said. "He appeared to be clean."
But, the toddler isn't able to form words according to police and they have little to go on. All they do have is the positioning of the apartment building being right next to Saint Francis Hospital, some surveillance video of the area, though not inside the apartment building because there are no cameras there, and some DNA extracted from the stroller to run in their database. It's a long shot they say.
Hartford police tell News Channel 8 they handle about 100 missing children cases annually, but they say this time is different.
"In this case it's reverse," Lt. Tedeschi said. "Typically we know the name of the child. A parent comes forward with the information that's missing.
"These steps are reverse. We don't have any information for this child at all. We have the child," he said.
Police hope his playful smile, the writing on his shirt -- "If mom says no, ask grandma" -- and the make of the stroller will jog someone's memory and give them a clue.
The toddler is in DCF custody. Police say if they get no leads they'll use the Crimestoppers billboards.
If anyone has any information they're asked to contact Hartford Police detectives at 860-757-4000.
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