Baby found dead at San Jose garbage plant to be laid to rest

A baby boy found dead at a San Jose garbage collection facility 10 months ago is set to be laid to rest Wednesday.

The service is the latest for Little Treasures, a nonprofit organization founded in 2005 to bury the babies who go abandoned or unclaimed at the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office.

Virginia Jones, president and cofounder, said she will pick up Baby Boy Doe’s body from the mortuary. He will then be wrapped in a receiving blanket if possible, placed in a tiny casket with a stuffed animal and driven to Los Gatos Memorial Park, where the first paramedic who arrived at the scene will serve as his pall bearer.

Following a 10- to 15-minute non-denominational service, the baby will be interred.

Little is known about Baby Boy Doe other than that he was found at GreenWaste Recovery at 625 Charles St. about 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 25. Jones said she’s been told he was a newborn.

An update on the San Jose Police Department’s investigation was not immediately available Tuesday.

Little Treasures has buried more than 50 babies since Jones, a supervisor with American Medical Response Inc., founded the organization with three other first responders.

“It’s important because it allows us as a community to be there for these babies in a way that their families couldn’t be,” Jones said. “And whatever circumstances the family was going through at the time is something that we don’t judge. It’s just something that we’re able to do, and we’re very blessed that we’re able to do that for them.”

Jones said the organization is funded solely through donations, from the receiving blankets to the burial plots. Volunteers help maintain the gravesites and fresh flowers are delivered monthly.

The coronavirus pandemic pushed back Baby Boy Doe’s burial, which would have otherwise taken place in February or March, Jones said. Wednesday’s service, she added, will begin at 10:30 a.m. and is open to the public, but attendees are asked to wear masks and practice social distancing.

Los Gatos Memorial Park is located at 2255 Los Gatos Almaden Road in San Jose. 

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