Police search for baby July's mother

While Baby July, the newborn boy who captured the hearts of many Montrealers, is safe with his foster family, his biological mother who abandoned him at the doors of Lakeshore General Hospital last week is still missing.

"He was in good health when he left, he's with a foster family now," said Lakeshore spokesperson Marie Josée Labrosse.

Baby July, as he has been nicknamed by the group of nurses who were taking care of him until last Friday when he left, was brought to Lakeshore on July 7 at 10 a.m.

Though original reports said the mother told a hospital clerk at the entrance she would be back after parking her car, the latest version of events from police seems contradictory.

Station 5 constable Lilliana Belucci told The Chronicle the mother had actually told the clerk she was a drug addict and would leave the baby elsewhere if it was not accepted by the hospital.

Police are still on look-out for the mother, who is described as an English-speaking mulatto woman with dark, wavy, mid-length hair. She is approximately 35 years old, five-feet-two-inches tall and weighs150 pounds. According to police, she was wearing a yellow sweater and blue jeans when she dropped off her son, and her two front teeth are framed in gold.

According to Belucci, the baby still had its umbilical cord attached when his mother dropped him off, and her jeans were covered in blood.

Baby July, in the meantime, left with a procession of presents sent by sympathizers. Many parents called the hospital to adopt the baby, Labrosse said, but Lakeshore had no say on who ultimately got to keep him.

"That's not our role," she said. "We have a protocol to follow," she added, which is to get in touch with a youth services agency. In this case, Lakeshore contacted Batshaw Youth Services, which had the last say on the family that got to take July home.

"To my knowledge, it's the first time something like this has happened (at Lakeshore)," said Labrosse.

Batshaw did not return calls for comment as of press time.