Dead infant found in Italian baby box after alarm fails to notify priest

The lifeless body of a male infant was found in a box for abandoned babies in southern Italy on Thursday, with the local priest saying an alarm meant to alert him failed to trigger.

The baby, believed to be about a month old, was found at the church of San Giovanni Battista in Bari, in the Puglia region.

The parish priest, Father Antonio Ruccia, told Italian media that when anyone leaves a baby in the cradle, an alarm should immediately send him an alert.

“I am in Rome, but my cell phone connected to the crib didn’t ring,” he said.

The dead child was discovered by a local funeral home director who was passing the baby box door, which is on the outside of the church to afford privacy, when he noticed it was ajar.

He immediately alerted the priest who called local police who made the grim discovery.

Once a baby is left in the crib, a heating system is supposed to automatically trigger and a notification is meant to be sent to the priest’s cell phone.

It is unclear if the heating system worked or if the baby was already dead when he was left, according to Bari police.

An autopsy will be carried out to determine when and how the baby died, a police spokesperson told CNN.

The initial theory is that whoever left the baby did not close the door to the small room that houses the crib, which would have triggered the alarm to the priest, police said.

The last time the Puglia baby box was used was in December 2023 when a baby girl later named Maria Grazia was left.

“There can be no judgment in these events,” Ruccia said at the time. “No one can imagine the pain behind realising that you cannot take care of your little one.”

Italy’s baby boxes

Baby boxes are found throughout Italy and were introduced in 2006 to help women anonymously leave babies they cannot care for in heated cribs at churches and hospital.

The practice goes back to the 13th century when women left babies in a “ruota” or wheel embedded into the wall of a church-affiliated children’s home that would allow the mother to anonymously give her child to the church institution.

The practice was used until the 1950s when the children’s homes were closed.

The practice was replaced by Italian legislation that allows women to give birth anonymously — not have her name on the birth certificate — and leave their babies at hospitals without facing any legal ramifications.