Woman’s story about being handed an infant by stranger who flagged her down is fake, SC police say

UPDATE: The mother was arrested on Monday, Nov. 26. Jillene McMillan, 31, was charged with unlawful neglect of a child for “failing to provide any medical care,” after giving birth to the baby at home, and then giving it to “a stranger not in compliance with Daniel’s Law,” according to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.

On Nov. 19, the Greenville Police Department said that information the department released last week about a woman in a car being handed an infant by another woman is false. Police now say the two women concocted the story as part of a “prearrangement to assume custody of the newborn.” The reported “Good Samaritan” has been charged with filing a false police report, police say, and the child’s mother is being investigated.

Below is the original story, which has been corrected.

A woman was reportedly driving down a South Carolina road Saturday night when she saw someone flagging her down, police said last week.

But when she pulled over to offer help, the person “unexpectedly handed her a newborn baby girl,” police said at the time, but they now say that is incorrect.

The woman who gave up the days-old infant was reported to have told the driver she could not care for the child — and walked away, but police now say that is false.

The Greenville Police Department said last week that it was searching for woman they are calling the infant’s mother, but now say she “has been identified and is being investigated by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office for her involvement in this incident.”

The baby, who “is believed to have been born on (last) Thursday or Friday,” was taken to an area medical facility by the Good Samaritan driver, police said at the time.

The “Jane Doe baby” has been under observation and police said last week that she is “doing well.”

Police asked the community to help in the search and to notify law enforcement about any “expecting mother who cannot account for her newborn child.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the police at 864-467-5342, Crimestoppers at 864-23-CRIME or submit an online tip.

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 5:08 PM.