January 1, Abandoned Baby Boy Reunites with Rescuer Officer In A Full Circle Moment

In December 2000, a newborn baby boy was abandoned in a South Bend, Indiana apartment complex hallway just days before Christmas. One of the police officers who responded to the scene was Gene Eyster, who provided the baby with some comfort while in the hospital. For years he wondered about the child’s fate.

Recently, the now-retired police lieutenant was reunited with the boy, now a grown man named Matthew Hegedus-Stewart, who had become an officer for the South Bend Police Department (SBPD). Eyster said the timing of the reunion helped fill a void after the unexpected passing of his 36-year-old son.

When the baby was found, he was shivering in a small box, wearing a sleeping outfit and wrapped in blue-green blankets. Local resident Christian Rowe discovered him and called police. At the time, then-Sgt. Ian McQueen of the SBPD’s Major Crimes Unit said, “It’s a heartbreaker for us.”

Eyster, who led the investigation, sought to find answers about the baby’s origin. He told the South Bend Tribune, “Initial examination indicated it may have been a home delivery.” Eyster worked with local media to spread the word about the abandoned boy, often referred to as “Baby Boy Doe” in reports.

Eyster later provided a teddy bear for the baby in the hospital, saying it was “just a symbol to let everyone that walked past know that he was cared about.” The mother who abandoned the child eventually turned herself in to police. Child Protective Services took the baby into their care, and he was placed in a foster home.

Years later, Officer Josh Morgan called Eyster to inform him that the abandoned baby he once helped was now a fellow officer. Hegedus-Stewart thanked Eyster in person, saying, “Thank you for everything you did for me.” Eyster said the reunion was a “full-circle moment that hit home.”

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