The man who found the dead body of a newborn in a 'thermal cradle' left for abandoned babies in an Italian church has opened up about the tragedy.
Roberto Savarese, a 56-year-old funeral director from the Italian city of Bari, was the first person to discover the body of the 1-month-old boy in a baby playpen in San Francisco on Thursday morning, January 2. Giovanni Battista Church.
Savarese spoke to PEOPLE about the moment he discovered the baby, recalling how he and an employee at his funeral home looked inside the casket out of curiosity when they saw there was a baby inside.
“Well, we were there on January 2 at 9:20 a.m. for a funeral we were doing, and I told one of my new staffers about the thermal crib that the parish had,” Savarese says. “So I said, 'Come, I'll show you,' and I opened the first small gate – which is not locked, but open for easy access from the outside for those in need.”
Related: Newborn Baby Boy Found Dead in Box Left for Abandoned Babies at Church: Reports
“I opened the door and saw that there was this baby's body in the crib. He was already dead,” he recalls. “At that point, I immediately closed the door without going in and called the emergency services. And they intervened immediately.”
According to Savarese, he and his co-worker were both “shocked” when they found the baby.
“In that moment of shock when I discovered the baby, I just saw him, immediately closed the door and called for help. I didn't even notice if the heating system was working,” he says. “My new colleague was understandably shocked. After I noticed the baby, I immediately closed the door and called the emergency services. Soon the entire avenue was cordoned off; it is not a very long street, about 100 meters.”
According to Italian news agency Ansa, the box – similar to the Safe Haven Baby Boxes used in the US – should send an alert to the church whenever a baby is placed in it.
Although authorities previously said they believed the person who left the baby had not closed the door of the room where the crib was located – meaning the alarm did not go off as intended, to let the parish priest, Father Antonio Ruccia, knows the baby was there – Savarese claims the door cannot stay open on its own.
“The door was definitely closed, not open as some have suggested,” he tells PEOPLE. “The system is designed with an automatic closing mechanism; it cannot remain open on its own.”
Google Maps
San Giovanni Battista Church in Bari, Italy
Ruccia previously told Ansa that he was in Rome at the time of the incident, and that his cell phone – which is connected to the crib – never rang.
“Investigators will have to determine why the alarm system did not function and whether the heating was working,” the 56-year-old added. “Everything that could have been done to prevent this was in place, but somehow something still went wrong.”
Savarese also tells PEOPLE that the baby boy was about 25 days old, appeared white and was “fully formed.”
“Based on my experience, I believe the baby had been dead for about two days when we found him,” the funeral director added. 'The area around the church was particularly empty this Christmas – the priest was away in Rome. [The baby boy] could have been found much later had we not checked in on the crib that day in an attempt to show it to my new co-worker.
Related: Baby surrendered to Safe Haven Baby Box in Kentucky less than 2 months after it was installed
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Bari, located in the Puglia region, is “shocked and shocked” by the boy's death, Savarese said, revealing that members of the press from Italy and around the world have contacted him about the case.
“This morning I had a funeral in another parish,” he tells PEOPLE. “I arrived there with my vehicles and everyone was looking at me and then they came up and asked me. Everyone wants to know more about the tragedy because they are all shocked.”
Ansa and CNN previously reported that police are still investigating and that an autopsy will be performed on the baby to determine how and when he died. Bari police did not immediately respond when PEOPLE contacted them.
La Repubblica reported that the church's baby playpen had been used successfully twice prior to this incident: once on July 19, 2020, and again on December 23, 2023.
Sasaneli/ROPI via ZUMA Press
Investigators collect evidence at the scene in Bari, Italy
“Just recently, another girl was found during the Christmas season, but it went well,” Savarese recalls. “She's adopted, just like the other child found a while ago.”
The cradle was added to the church after a dead baby was discovered on a beach in the nearby town of Monopoli in 2015, Ansa reported.
As for Savarese, he and the rest of the local community are reeling as they try to make sense of the rare tragedy.
“This has deeply affected everyone in the community,” he said. “When it concerns a baby, it is particularly shocking. It is a very serious matter that has affected us all.”
Read the original article about People
