A family from Oklahoma was visiting New York City when they saw what appeared to be a baby floating in the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge. They were sitting on a bench after having returned from a ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty when they saw the child wearing only a diaper and initially thought that it was a doll. Monte Campbell called 911 to report what he saw. While he was on hold, he handed the phone to his wife and waded into the water to pull the unconscious toddler from the river.
“We were trying to see if it was a real baby, it looked kind of like a doll. We didn't know if anyone had actually thrown a baby in there. My dad hopped in, pulled the baby out and started to do CPR on it," Austin Campbell told the New York Daily News.
While Campbell was trying to reach the child, a pedestrian flagged down two officers, who rushed to the water and helped Campbell perform CPR on the baby, according to the New York Times. An ambulance arrived and took the child to the hospital, where they were unable to save him and he was pronounced dead.
Police are investigating the death and trying to track down the baby's parents. They said the infant had no signs of trauma and were unsure how long he had been in the water.