A heartbreaking discovery was made in Italy after a missing baby was found dead in a “thermal cradle” outside the San Giovanni Battista Church in Bari. The cradle, which is meant to provide a safe place for abandoned infants, failed to alert anyone that the baby had been left inside.
The baby boy was reported missing before being found lifeless on the morning of Thursday, January 2. The discovery was made by a local funeral home director who happened to notice the cradle door slightly open. The cradle is located on the outside of the church to ensure privacy for anyone leaving a baby there.
The alarm system, designed to notify the church priest when a baby is placed inside, did not activate because the door to the room where the cradle is kept was left open. This failure prevented Father Antonio Ruccia, the parish priest, from being alerted. Father Ruccia, who was in Rome at the time, said, “My cell phone, which is connected to the cradle, did not ring.”
Speaking to local media, Father Ruccia expressed his sorrow, saying, “Maybe he could have been saved, but we must forgive.” The incident has deeply saddened the church and the community.
Authorities are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the baby’s death. It is not yet clear if the baby was already dead when placed in the cradle or if he died later. Bari police have confirmed that an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause and time of death.
The thermal cradle at the San Giovanni Battista Church had been used successfully in two previous cases: one in 2020 and another in December 2023. It was installed after a similar tragedy in 2015 when a baby was found dead on a beach in the nearby town of Monopoli.
