ABANDONED IN THE DESERT
On Christmas Eve, 1931, young married couple Ed and Julia Stewart were driving home through the desert after a day spent sightseeing with family.
About 8pm, 11km west of the town, their car broke down. While Ed tried to fix the problem, Julia, 18, got out to stretch her legs.
Suddenly, she spotted a black hatbox by a bush, 45 metres away.
‘Open it up,’ she told Ed.
Peeling back the lid, they were shocked to find a red-haired, blue-eyed, week-old baby lying on its back with its little knees almost under its chin.
The next day, police searched the area where the baby girl had been found, but there was nothing that would lead them to her parents.
‘The baby seemed to just drop out of the sky,’ Constable Joe Maier told reporters.
