45 years ago, my Mom and I found a toddler at the old Coos Bay K-mart, off Ocean Blvd.
We heard a weird noise like a hurt animal, and when I looked under some clothes racks and shelving, there she was. Fetal position, eyes rolled back, wailing. Totally traumatized, non-verbal. When I got ahold of her she got a death grip on me, and buried her face in my neck. It shattered me. She was approximately 20 months old. We wrapped her in a coat and took her to Customer Service. They said, unfortunately, it was a common occurrence. They paged, and paged the parents, but no one showed up. They called the Coos Bay Police, who in turn called Children’s Services.
The Police arrived, and I had to ride with them, because the baby was wrapped around me so tight, they felt it was better that way. I held her cold, trembling little body close to mine for two hours, neither of us wanting to let go. My Mom begged them to let us foster, but of course, that isn’t the way things work. When she finally dozed off, we pried her lose from my arms and she immediately clung to a female officer.
We left our information in case they needed a foster, or permanent home, but we never heard from them.
I’ve always wondered whatever happened to her.