Rankin Inlet (Apr 19/06) - The community of Rankin Inlet was shocked to learn a 23-year-old woman had abandoned her baby in the middle of the road this past week.

Sgt. Gavin Nash of the Rankin detachment of the RCMP said he was contacted at home when a constable at the local station received a call of a domestic disturbance at about 5:45 a.m. on April 11.

Nash said when he and the constable arrived at the scene, they were told the woman had been in a disagreement with her former boyfriend and left the home with her 13-month-old baby.

"There was some indication she wanted to walk back to Whale Cove, so we took the longest road towards Whale, which is the road to the dump," said Nash. "We had just passed the CBC building when I thought I spotted her down on the middle of the road.

"Once we got up to the bundle, however, we saw it was her suitcase and amauti with the baby still in the hood."

The baby was unharmed and police located the mother shortly afterwards among the burned out vehicles at the fire-training station near the municipal dump.

Nash said the woman could not have kept an eye on her baby from where she was located, almost half a kilometre away.

"The baby was left right in the middle of the right lane, so this story could have had a very sad ending.

"If this had happened a couple of hours later during the short storm we experienced, a motorist could have easily run over the baby without ever seeing it.

"Thank goodness at the time we found the baby it was only -8C with no wind.

"Only three hours later the conditions were much, much worse."

The mother has been charged with child abandonment under Section 218 of the Criminal Code.

Her first court appearance is scheduled for June 26 in Rankin.

The baby was turned over to Social Services and is currently in foster care.

The name of the mother is being withheld to protect the child's identity.

Nash said baby abandonment is a rare occurrence anywhere.

"I've been at this job for 20 years in various areas of the country, and this was the first time I jumped out of a police vehicle to find an abandoned baby.

"It was a real shock to me."