South Bend cop who helped an abandoned baby meets him 23 years later — all grown up and in a familiar uniform



A baby boy was discarded in the hallway of an apartment complex in South Bend, Indiana, just days before Christmas 2000. Gene Eyster, one of the police officers who dealt with the case and did his part to provide the boy with some comfort while in the hospital, long wondered about the child's fate.

A few weeks ago, the now-retired police lieutenant was not only provided with an update but with an outstretched hand. The boy he had helped, now a man, had done more than survive. He thrived.

South Bend Police Department

'Baby Boy Doe'

The South Bend Tribune reported on Dec. 23, 2000, that a newborn baby had been discovered in the hallway of a Park Jefferson apartment building after midnight. A nearby resident, Christian Rowe, heard the child crying.

"I looked down the hallway and saw a box sitting there," said Rowe.

Rowe indicated he and his friend found a newborn shivering inside a small box, wearing a sleeping outfit and wrapped in blue-green blankets.

"I didn't know what to think," said Rowe. "We brought it inside the apartment to keep it warm."

Rowe and his friend called police, who rushed to the scene with an ambulance in tow.

"It's a heartbreaker for us," said then-Sgt. Ian McQueen of the SBPD's Major Crimes Unit.

According to the SBPD, responding officers roped then-Sgt. Gene Eyster into the investigation, who immediately began seeking answers for the following questions: "How did the baby get there? Was he kidnapped? Was it intentional? Is anyone looking for him?"

Eyster told the Tribune, "Initial examination indicated it may have been a home delivery."

"I want to find the mother and make sure she's OK," said Eyster. "After that, we'll let the chips fall where they fall. ... The priority is care and concern for the child, then the mother, and lastly if there's any criminal intent."

The SBPD indicated that Eyster worked with local media outlets to spread the word about the boy, often referred to in reports as "Baby Boy Doe."

"'Baby Doe' sounded so cruel," said Eyster. "So ... I started calling him 'Baby Jesus' since it was so close to Christmas."

South Bend Police Department

With the hunt underway for answers about the boy's origin, Eyster went out and bought a teddy bear to keep the child company in his hospital crib.

Eyster recently told CBS News that the bear was "just a symbol to let everyone that walked past know that he was cared about."

A subsequent report indicated the baby was found to be in good health and was believed to have been between three and seven days old when left in the entrance to the apartment building.

The mother who abandoned the child after a home delivery later turned herself in to police.

After the boy's medical examination, police indicated he was released to Child Protective Services whose division director at the time indicated there would be some kind of foster-care placement.

In the decades that followed, Eyster wondered what had become of the child, especially whenever he would pass the Park Jefferson apartment complex. There was no finding out, however, since the records were sealed.

South Bend Police Department

Blast from the past

According to SBPD, Eyster, who recently lost his only son, received a call from Officer Josh Morgan last month.

"Gene," said Morgan. "You aren't going to believe this."

Eyster indicated that he remembered virtually everything from his time on the force, especially the case of the abandoned baby at Christmastime.

"He's sitting next to me right now," said Morgan. "He's my rookie!"

"Baby Boy Doe" evidently grew up to become SBP Officer Matthew Hegedus-Stewart.

The department indicated that Morgan pieced together parts of the puzzle after his rookie had mentioned his adoption in infancy and his abandonment when responding to a call regarding a similar incident.

Morgan pulled the thread further, tracking down the original case report, then identifying Eyster as the lead investigator.

On March 22, Eyster met Hegedus-Stewart, noting, "You're a little bit bigger now."

CBS News indicated that Hegedus-Stewart now wears the same uniform Eyster did and patrols the exact same neighborhood.

The SBPD suggested that the rookie "has to wonder if, even subconsciously, this experience motivated him to want to pursue law enforcement."

The rookie told the retired lieutenant in person, "Thank you for everything you did for me."

South Bend Police Department

Hegedus-Stewart told CBS News it was a "full-circle moment that hit home."

Eyster noted that the timing of the reunion, just months after his son's unexpected passing at the age of 36, "couldn't have been any better to help fill a void that I've had to deal with."

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Teen with only months to live gets dream car from dad, special invitation from Ford



A cancer-stricken teen with only months to live recently got his dream car. The 18-year-old also received a special invitation from the CEO of the Ford Motor Company.

The teenager's father, Joe Tegerdine, explained why he gifted his son a Ford Mustang in a post shared on the X social media platform earlier this month.

Tegerdine wrote, "For those wondering why I’d buy my 18yr old son a 330hp Mustang, well, he’s been given months to live and can’t work long enough to buy one himself. His comment on the way home, 'Dad, I’m going to squeeze a few extra months of life just to be able to drive this.'"

The tweet concluded with the hashtag: #cancersucks.

— (@)

The post shared on March 2 went viral with nearly 8,000 retweets, more than 177,000 likes, and almost 14 million views.

The tweet also caught the eye of Ford CEO Jim Farley — who replied by saying, "Hi Joe, I’m so sorry to hear what your family is going through. Please let me know if you and your son would like to attend @FPRacingSchool to experience a @FordMustang Dark Horse on the track. DM me and we’ll make it happen."

Tegerdine connected with Farley about the special invitation for his son Joseph to attend the Ford Performance Racing School.

Tegerdine told the Detroit Free Press, "It was really crazy. That tweet was just kind of random. He sent a direct message to me, saying, 'Hey, you want me to do this?' If it's OK, his guys would get everything set up ... at the Ford Performance Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. They're flying us out there. It's just really cool, and we'll stay in Charlotte for a couple of days. There's a big dinner before school. Then Joseph will be on the track with the (Mustang) Dark Horse."

Joseph said of the offer, "I don't know how to drift. I've always been too scared to go to a parking lot to figure that out, because I'd just hit a light pole or something. I need an instructor, a trainer. Also, I get to drive one of the most powerful Ford track Mustangs there is. This is going to be sick."

The Mustang Dark Horse boasts a 5.0L Ti-VCT V8 engine with 500 horsepower and 418-pound feet of torque. Joseph will get to drive the powerful Ford on the track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Joseph said he is excited about his own Mustang since it's his dream car.

"I've just liked Mustangs for as long as I can remember. Six-year-old me liked it, the headlights looked cool, and I stuck with it," Joseph explained. "I used to drive this Ford Bronco. It was a big truck, basically. I'd get compliments and I'd feel so manly. We sold that and I started driving my mom's minivan, a Honda Odyssey. I felt like my testosterone was being drained away. Not great."

"You have to live day by day because, day by day, if you look at my life, it’s actually fantastic," Joseph said. "I'm in Japan right now. I've got a car of my dreams, I'm surrounded by tons of people I absolutely adore and I'm going to driving school."

Joseph is also cognizant that he likely only has months to live because of a terminal bone cancer called osteosarcoma.

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Osteosarcoma is a kind of cancer that begins in the cells that form bones. Osteosarcoma tends to happen most often in teenagers and young adults. But it also can happen in younger children and older adults. Osteosarcoma can start in any bone. It's most often found in the long bones of the legs, and sometimes the arms."

Joseph said, "Then you look at the future, and it all starts to break down. I don't really need to look at the future. Morbidly, I don’t really have one. I can’t be, like, 'In a year —' If I get a year, I’ll be extremely lucky."

The father said of his son's cancer diagnosis, "When my son was first diagnosed I had to make a decision. Either curse God and die or try to make the best of a really bad situation. With the perspective of what it would be like to experience sudden loss, I decided to be grateful. Grateful that we’ve had the 18 years to build memories and enjoy him."

"Even now, with the only treatments left to prolong life and manage pain, I’m thankful he’s still with us, squeezing out the best that life can offer under less than ideal circumstances," Tegerdine said. "My heart is still broken, but I know it could be a lot worse."

He noted, "Over the years, I’ve known many parents who have lost their children to sudden tragedy, who never got a chance to say goodbye."

The family is currently on vacation in Japan.

However, Joseph will continue radiation treatment and chemo, plus he'll need to undergo surgery when he gets back home.

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9-year-old abducted while on family camping trip found alive in cupboard of suspect's trailer: Governor



Charlotte Sena, a 9-year-old girl from Saratoga County, went missing Saturday while on a camping trip with family in upstate New York. Police suspected that she had been abducted and was "in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death."

Hundreds of first responders, family members, and friends scoured Moreau Lake State Park and the surrounding area for the girl, hoping to find the child unscathed.

Following a tactical raid on a trailer just miles away from the family's home, New York State Police announced Monday night that the fourth-grader had been found "safe and in good health."

According to Gov. Kathy Hochul, Charlotte's "abductor is behind bars."

While police employed various high-tech aids in their search, it appears what ultimately led them to the girl was the suspect's brazenness.

What's the background?

TheBlaze previously reported that the NYSP issued an AMBER Alert Sunday morning, indicating that the girl, from Greenfield, New York, had been abducted on Saturday around 6:45 p.m. near Moreau Lake State Park, Loop A, Site 18, in Gansevoort. The alert noted the girl "was taken under circumstances that lead police to believe that they are in imminent danger of serious harm and/or death."

Missing posters noted that the girl is blonde, green-eyed, 4 feet 6 inches tall and 90 pounds, and had last been seen wearing her bike helmet, an orange Pokemon shirt, and dark blue pants.

Charlotte Sena was out bike-riding with friends but had elected to do one more loop down a paved road, which cut through a heavily wooded area.

When she didn't return after 15 minutes, her family began looking for her.

Police indicated that her bicycle was located in Loop A around 6:45. Two minutes later, her mom called 911 to report Charlotte missing.

Bloodhounds, divers, forest rangers, air boats, ATVs, and drones were deployed in the search that followed, which ultimately involved roughly 400 people. The FBI and 34 volunteer fire departments also jumped in to assist state and local law enforcement.

Moreau Lake State Park was closed to the public, and the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted the airspace over the park to protect search aircraft.

Trisha, Charlotte Sena's mother, told the Albany Times Union her daughter is a "good kid" and "trusting," stressing, "I just want my daughter back."

The Sena family told NBC News in a statement, "We just want her returned safely like any parent would. No tip is too small, please call if you know anything at all."

Hand-delivered evidence

Hochul told CNN that around 4:20 a.m. on Monday, the suspect "literally drove up to the family's mailbox assuming they were not home" and left an apparent ransom note.

The NYSP had been monitoring the home while the child's parents continued their search in Monreau Lake State Park. However, when the suspect hand-delivered the note, police were absent, having reportedly been called to another scene. While thus able to slip away, the suspect unwittingly left critical evidence behind: his fingerprints on the letter.

"That was instrumental in leading us directly to the suspect," added Hochul.

The police reportedly tested the note for fingerprints and searched law enforcement databases for a match. Although unsuccessful in their first attempt, the second search resulted in an apparent match to fingerprints from a 1999 DUI conviction in Saratoga, according to Newsweek.

After investigators identified 46-year-old Craig Nelson Ross Jr. as their suspect and ascertained that he was living in a trailer behind his mother's home on Barrett Road, Milton, two SWAT teams were dispatched.

Around 20 Special Operations Response Team members and an FBI SWAT team reportedly made entry just after 6 p.m. on Monday.

"They had what they call a dynamic entry tactical maneuver, and within the camper they located the suspect," said Hochul.

Ross got banged up in the process, having reportedly resisted arrest.

— (@)

Police found the 9-year-old stowed away in a cabinet in the trailer.

"She knew she was being rescued," said Hochul. "She knew she was in safe hands."

"Law enforcement teams were relentless in finding this little girl — putting the pieces together and leaving no cabin unturned — to bring Charlotte home to her parents," Hochul wrote on X. "Charlotte is safe and her abductor is behind bars tonight."

The Albany Times Union indicated that Ross' arrest was made less than three hours after NYSP said the search had been expanded over 46 linear miles.

It is unclear whether Ross knew of the Sena family prior to the abduction; however, Newsweek noted that his car registration is listed at an address near the Sena family home.

FBI joins search for missing 9-year-old Charlotte Senayoutu.be

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Stray dog repeatedly escaped from shelter to hang out in a nursing home. Now, he gets to call it his own: 'If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.'



A nameless stranger with a mysterious past found himself incarcerated in a facility in Bellaire, Michigan. While clearly homeless, he nevertheless evidenced a strong sense of belonging. However, he apparently did not feel that he belonged at the Antrim County Animal Control shelter.

The dog, later named Scout — a 65-pound mutt at least 10 years of age about whom little was known except for signs of past abuse and evidence of having been shot in the face — managed to break free of the shelter on multiple occasions, clearing both the shelter's 10-foot chain link fence and a 6-foot privacy fence, then crossing a highway, reported the Detroit Free Press.

"He climbed the chain-linked kennel," Heather Belknap, the shelter's director, told the Washington Post. "There's a six-foot solid vinyl fence around the dog kennels. He jumped over that fence."

This was no mere escape, but a journey somewhere specific: the Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility, a long-term, 82-bed nursing home catering primarily to seniors.

The first time he got out, Scout made his way inside the nursing home and slept in the lobby on a leather loveseat. A nurse found Scout the next morning then called animal control, who acknowledged he had gone missing the night before.

Scout made another great escape just a few nights later. Again, he found his groove on the leather loveseat, and again he slept until caught.

The Free Press indicated that, despite being carted back to the shelter a second time, Scout wasn't ready to call it quits, making his way to his spot in the nursing home a third time just a few nights later.

"He was pretty relentless in his pursuit to be here," Stephanie Elsey, a clinical care coordinator at the facility, told the Post. "He found his home."

Following the dog's third incursion, an employee at the nursing home took Scout home. While the arrangement was not meant to be, it spurred a conversation amongst the nursing home staff concerning the prospect of adopting Scout.

"I’m a person who looks at outward signs, and if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be," Marna Robertson, the facility's administrator, told the Free Press. "He did that one time, two times, three times, and obviously that's something you should pay attention to. And I asked the staff, 'Well, he wants to be here. Would anybody like to have a dog?'"

The staff evidently answered in the affirmative — to the delight of the residents.

Rhonda Tomzack, an administrative assistant at the facility, said, "I think it reminds them of being home. ... When you're home you have your pets, and you don't get to have that here. Having a dog around makes it feel like home."

Scout has reportedly had the run of Glacier Hill, a unit at the facility housing 20 seniors, since 2017.

In addition to visiting various residents, particularly those liable to give him biscuits, he also comforts the elderly, even if behind closed doors, having long since learned to open them.

82-year-old Shirley Sawyer, one of the residents, said, "He'll always let you pet him and lets you talk to him if you need someone to talk to. ... It's very nice."

Sawyer's brother, Bob Shumaker, also in residence, frequently feigns to be asleep while Scout noses him before Shumaker finally caves and gives him a biscuit.

Despite a clear history of abuse, the dog reportedly responds well to the elderly, particularly the most vulnerable among them.

Robertson told the Free Press, "He certainly has a penchant for the elders. He's very in tune with what they need, especially our very vulnerable population. If they have dementia or if they're dying, he knows that, and he will go and be with them and comfort them. He must've just felt like he needed to be here."

Jenny Martinek, the nursing home's household coordinator, noted, "To each and every one of them, it's their dog."

In honor of Scout, the nursing home has once again kicked off a fundraiser for the Antrim County Animal Shelter.


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14-year-old out fishing hooked farmer's lost wallet, full of cash. Like his old man, he knew not to keep something he hadn't earned.



14-year-old Connor Halsa of Moorhead, Minnesota, was out fishing with his family on Lake of the Woods when he hooked bills instead of gills.

"We were doing a walleye drift, so we stopped the boat, put some spinners on, and let the waves take us," Halsa told WDAY-TV.

Of all of the places he could have drifted to on the lake — some 85 miles long and 56 miles across at its widest — those serendipitous waves brought Halsa over the resting place of Iowa farmer Jim Denney's lost wallet, stuck 20 feet below in the glacial deeps.

The summer prior, Denney reportedly came up against rough waters and went overboard. Although he managed to bring himself out of the murk all right, Denney later realized when readying to pay his final bill at the resort that the pocket on his overalls was down one billfold and $2,000 dollars.

"They had to float me the money for the whole deal. That's the (worst) feeling I ever had, didn't have a penny on me," Denney told the station.

This summer, Halsa struck on the wallet, but mistook it for a nibble.

Ready for a fight, the boy "set the hook really hard."

The incoming freshman at Moorhead High School came out victorious, but what came out of the water was no walleye. Rather, the 14-year-old had reeled in Denney's billfold, packed with $2,000 in cash.

"My cousin opened the wallet up, and he said some words you probably shouldn't say," Halsa told WDAY. "He showed everyone, and we took the money out and let it dry out."

$2,000 can go a long way, especially for a 14-year-old, but Halsa explained, "We didn't work hard for the money. He did. It was his money."

"My dad said we should give it to the person, and I said we should too," Halsa recalled.

After setting the cash out to dry, the family looked for some way to identify the owner. All they could find inside the water-logged wallet was a business card with a phone number belonging to a livestock owner in western Wisconsin — and that proved to be enough.

They called the number on the card and eventually got in touch with the owner of the wallet.

Although the wallet made its way to his farmhouse in Mount Ayr, Iowa, Denney traveled to Moorhead to visit Halsa, amazed by his luck and the boy's virtue, reported the Star Tribune.

"I tell you what, I have the billfold in my hands, and it is still hard to believe," said Denney.

The farmer reportedly offered to give the boy a reward, but Halsa refused.

"To meet people like that, who are that honest, I tried to get them to take the money, and they wouldn't do it," said the farmer.

While Halsa refused a reward, the Iowan gifted him a custom-made cooler and paid him a compliment: "I would take Connor as a grandson any day, and I would fight for him any day."

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Teen hooks wallet full of cash while fishingyoutu.be

Junior officer hears screaming while off duty and bolts into action, saving baby who was figured for a goner: 'Everybody has their time. It just wasn't his.'



Mohamed Hacham, an officer in training with the Melvindale Police Department in Michigan, was off duty Tuesday evening when he heard someone screaming.

Hacham, who at the time had been relaxing in his East Dearborn home with his police radio nearby, told WJBK-TV, "It was like a disaster going on. The yelling from the corner ... was so loud with the windows closed, and I was like 'this is something big.'"

Having quickly surmised that the yelling corresponded with a dispatch over the radio concerning a baby in trouble, the young officer bolted outside along with his brother. Together, they raced up the block to a group that had gathered around a panicked mother.

Hacham told WDIV-TV that at the center of the fearful group was a baby who had fallen unconscious after choking on food: "His eyes, when I seen them, were rolled back."

The officer immediately seized control of the situation.

"Whole time I’m just telling the little boy, 'Come on, come on, come on, let’s wake up.' ... My whole goal was 'this kid’s not dying in my arms,'" recalled Hacham.

The young officer relied upon his training and performed livesaving measures to get the boy breathing again, which he indicated amounted to flipping the baby over and administering a few blows to his back.

Mo Zughayar, Hachem's neighbor, who saw Hacham resuscitate the child, told WWJ-TV, "I don't know what could've happened. If he didn't know what he was doing or wasn't the one helping, then I don't want to say it. The child probably wouldn't be with us any more."

Hacham, who has only been on the job for a few months, later emphasized he was at the "right place at the right time," and that it "wasn't that kid's time. Everybody has their time. It just wasn't his."

The MPD said in a statement on Facebook, "Great job to one of our newest Officers. Officer Hacham was off duty and heard the call[,] saving a lifeless child in his neighborhood. Well done Officer Hacham, well done. You make all of us very proud to have you on our team."

Lt. Robert Kennaley of the MPD indicated to WXYZ-TV that Hacham "is a very kindhearted individual. He's a go-getter and that's what he does: helps the community."

The 2-year-old's father has expressed gratitude to his neighbor in blue, indicating that the boy is doing well.

Video of the incident was captured on domestic surveillance cameras:

Off-duty Melvindale police officer saves 3-year-old boy who nearly choked to deathyoutu.be

For those outside Hacham's vicinity, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health has recommended following these steps for treating a choking child, which are to be pursued in conjunction with calling emergency services:

  • "Stand behind the child. Wrap your arms around the child's waist";
  • "Make a fist with one hand, thumb side in," then place your fist "just below the chest and slightly above the navel";
  • "Grab your fist with the other hand";
  • "Press into the abdomen with a quick upward push. This helps to make the object or food come out of the child's mouth";
  • "Repeat this inward and upward thrust until the piece of food or object comes out"; and
  • Upon the ejection of the obstruction, "take your child to the doctor. A piece of the object can still be in the lung. Only a doctor can tell you if your child is OK."

The British Red Cross has published a short video demonstrating the techniques for saving a choking baby under the age of one:

Baby First Aid: How to save a choking babyyoutu.be

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'No way I was going to leave him like that': Cop risks tornado winds for his K-9 partner



The tornado that touched down in Deer Park, Texas, on Jan. 24 may have ripped through stone and metal, but it ultimately found a bond it couldn't break.

Footage showing Deer Park Police Officer Joel Nitchman running back to his squad car mid-tornado for his furry partner, K-9 Roni, has gone viral.

KHOU reported that narcotics K-9 Roni and Nitchman, who have worked together to protect the community for over five years, had completed training and returned to the DPP station when the afternoon sky turned ominously dark.

An EF-3 tornado with gusts between 136 and 165 miles per hour touched down around 2:49 p.m., wreaking havoc, pulling down power lines, and doing significant damage to multiple buildings, especially to a nearby assisted living center.

Officials indicated that around 30 streets were closed as a result of debris thrown about by the tornado.

Despite the destruction, there were no casualties reported. Nitchman helped ensure that outcome.

Roni was still in his kennel in the rear of the squad car when visibility dropped to near-zero and winds began whipping debris, even moving a metal fence, thereby blocking the entrance of the station.

Nitchman, who told KHOU that Roni has "put himself in harm's way for me before," knew he had to return the favor, noting, "The thought of debris, or the car flipping over ... I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't have him out there during that."

The station's parking lot surveillance camera caught Nitchman bolting to his squad car as lightning streaked the air and nearby trees were thrashed by the high-force winds.

"I knew something was bad when things were hitting my face. I knew it was debris of some kind," said Nitchman.

The shrapnel, rain, and wind nearly proved insurmountable.

"Once I went around the car, that's when all heck broke loose," said the officer. "I could barely open his door."

When he finally managed to pry the door open, Nitchman had to contend with a less-than-enthused partner.

"He's a smart dog. He saw what was going on outside and he said I'm not coming out. ... I'm, like, coaching him, 'Come on, buddy. Let's go,'" recalled Nitchman.

Trusting in his partner, Roni ultimately joined Nitchman. That trust turned out to be well placed.

Both officers pressed through the blistering winds together and were able to find safety inside the station.

"I love that dog. He's my hip attachment almost every day of the week," said Nitchman. "He's a part of our family. We can't leave a loved one like that. There's no way I was going to leave him like that.

Deer Park Mayor Jerry Mouton spoke to reporters about the tornado, stating, "It's amazing no one got injured. ... I'm just grateful to God that he was able to protect life in here."

Watch the parking lot rescue:

\u201cWatch as K-9 Officer Joel Nitchman of the Deer Park, TX Police Dept. races to rescue his #dog Roni as the EF3 #tornado hits on Tue. As he said, "Any handler would have done the same for their K-9 partner." Very happy that both are safe!\n#dogsarelove \n\ud83d\udcf9@DEERPARKTXGOV\u201d
— Mike Seidel (@Mike Seidel) 1674758460

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