Texas Couple Became Instant Heroes After Rescuing Infant Abandoned in Shed

Katharine McClain John McClain United Nations Livingston Police Department Shane Arthur Simpson Baden Bond Dina Colleen Bond manslaughter

By Camille Hutchison , Parent Herald Sep 29, 06:08 am

Katharine McClain told USA Today that people would often tease her husband, John McClain, as his name is similar to the lead character in the 1988 blockbuster movie "Die Hard." Even though their surname's spelling is one letter off, they have one thing in common: They are both heroes. The couple woke up early Saturday due to the sound of a loud truck driving away from their house in Livingston, a small town approximately 70 miles northeast of Houston.

Upon checking their home security camera, they found a shirtless man checking their vehicle doors and eventually discovered someone had stolen their neighbor's truck. When daylight broke, Archie, the couple's dog, led them to a scene that shocked the two. Katherine, a U.S. Army veteran, said their dog was barking around the shed, so John went to see what was happening. When he opened the door, he found a baby lying on the floor with a little dress on and no diaper.

She immediately picked up the baby and wrapped it in a towel after John told her to dial 911.

The mother cannot find the exact word to explain her reaction

The mother, who shares 15-year-old twins and a 17-year-old son with her husband, told the news outlet that she has never been more worried or terrified of a baby in her entire life. She added that what she felt for the baby was complete sorrow knowing anything could have happened to her. They wrapped the baby in a towel while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. The baby was later taken to a hospital in Houston to be treated for a broken leg.

The United Nations estimates that about 60 million children and infants have been abandoned by their families and live on their own or in orphanages worldwide. In the United States, over 7,000 kids are abandoned each year. Approximately 100,000 of the 400,000 kids are currently in the system and waiting to be adopted, either by their foster parents or by adoptive families who have not been fostered before, per American Adoptions.

The Livingston Police Department soon found the neighbor's stolen truck with the baby's father behind the wheel. According to the reports, he was now booked in the Polk County Jail on charges of abandoning or endangering a child. Authorities added that the vehicle that belonged to the kid's father was found abandoned near railroad tracks behind the McClain property.

Father sentenced to 12 years in jail for manslaughter

Another baby was abandoned at a boat ramp South of Brisbane. The drug-addicted father, Shane Arthur Simpson, abandoned his two-year-old son, Baden Bond, near the Logan River as he was tired of looking after him. The child's body couldn't be found as the young boy had probably drowned.

The father was sentenced to 12 years in jail for manslaughter, while the little boy's mother, Dina Colleen Bond, was also sentenced to three years in prison for being an accessory to manslaughter as she covered up the crime, ABC Net says.