On August 6, the body of a deceased baby boy was found in a recycling facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Several weeks later, hundreds of community members turned out to pay their respects during a visitation and funeral service for the little boy, who was posthumously named Gabriel James.
Sioux Falls Police Department spokesman Sam Clemens said recycling center staff found the body of the “full term infant” around 6:40 a.m. on the morning of August 6. Police say they have concluded an autopsy, but are not releasing any details regarding the child’s death to the public.
“An unattended death is any death that occurs outside a medical facility,” Clemens said. “Unattended infant deaths happen occasionally. It’s hard to give an exact number how many happen each year, but an estimation would be around five. We’ve never had an infant found at a recycling center before.”
The funeral was arranged by the Oaklyn Foundation, an organization founded to provide emotional, financial, and educational assistance and support to families who experience the loss of an infant. Jessica Remme, the organization’s founder, gave the little boy his name.
According to the Argus Leader, around 180 community members attended the service at Miller Funeral Home – Southside Chapel, which was also streamed online. The previous evening, 200 people attended visitation services.
“It was just really amazing to see the community of Sioux Falls to come together to pay their respects, spend time, to make sure that he was properly buried and taken care of,” said funeral director Matthew Koball.
Koball explained that it’s the funeral home’s standard to provide free funeral services for any child under the age of 17.
“It’s a trying time anytime someone loses your child; it’s not the natural order,” Koball said. “It’s really the least we could do to give back to the community because it’s the right thing to do.”
Every state has a Safe Haven law that allows parents to surrender a baby they feel unable to care for. In South Dakota, if the baby is less than 60 days old and unharmed, it can be surrendered to any hospital, law enforcement officer, firefighter, EMT, licensed child placement agency, or Department of Social Services office.
