LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — Lakeland police are searching for answers after a human fetus was found in a dumpster behind a Lakeland business Thursday morning.

According to Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor, a man was going through a dumpster behind a business along the 3600 block of South Florida Avenue in Lakeland when he found a bag with a fetus inside.

Taylor said the bag contained “a male baby [that] still had the placenta attached and the umbilical cord.” The police chief added the child had likely been dead for hours before authorities arrived.

The body was brought to the medical examiner’s office where a postmortem examination will be conducted.

Detectives are canvassing the area for information leading to a suspect.

When asked if there could be charges related to the case, Taylor said, “There could be several charges depending on what the medical examiner determines. Whether the child was killed. Was the child stillborn? You could have a homicide charge. Did the child suffocate in the bag? We’re still waiting on the results of the autopsy.”

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