Happy Endings: Cop and Abandoned Baby He Helped Rescue Reunited 24 Years Later

Sometimes we have to be reminded that there are good people out there. In this case, Matthew Hegedus-Stewart was the beneficiary of some kind folks who took in and adopted an abandoned baby – and of the South Bend, Indiana, cop who, in 2000, responded to a call concerning a baby abandoned and left in a box.

Now, 24 years later, the South Bend cop and Hegedus-Stewart are enjoying an unexpected reunion.

Gene Eyster, a retired police lieutenant, cannot drive past one specific apartment complex here without reliving that strange day 24 years ago.

“That was one of the strangest calls I think I’ve ever had: ‘We have a found baby in a box,'” Eyster, a 47-year veteran of the department, told CBS News. “You always wonder, what happened?”

On Dec. 22, 2000, a newborn was found abandoned in a common hallway. For Eyster, the case of the “Baby Boy Doe,” swaddled in cardboard and blankets, didn’t end after the child got to the hospital.

“I went back with a teddy bear,” Eyster said. “Just a symbol to let everyone that walked past know that he was cared about.”

For more than two decades, Eyster wondered what became of that boy. Unfortunately, records were sealed so there was no way to find out.

He found out even so – and how he found out is something of an unexpected twist of fate.

That was until just a few weeks ago, when Eyster got a phone call from a fellow officer, who asked Eyster if [he] remembered the case of the baby left in the carboard box. 

“And he (the officer) said, ‘he’s (the baby) sitting next to me, he’s my rookie,'” Eyster recounted.  

The rookie in question was Matthew Hegedus-Stewart, the baby in the box. After his rescue, he was placed for adoption. He always knew he had been left in a box, but only connected the dots to Eyster after joining the department.

This is one of those stories that makes you feel a little hope for humanity.

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Now it seems the two officers are on the beat in the same South Bend neighborhood. And what’s more, Lieutenant Eyster is realizing another comfort from the reunion.

Their reunion and their new friendship came just a few months after Eyster’s only son, Nick, died unexpectedly at the age of 36.

“So the timing couldn’t have been any better, it helped to fill a void that I’ve had to deal with,” Eyster said. 

My father was fond of saying “Everything usually works out for the best in the end,” and while I’ve always admired his optimism (even though these days it can be a challenge) Now, here, out of South Bend, Indiana, is a story that makes us believe that, for just a little bit longer.

That, of course, is the neat thing about small towns and, in this case, a small city, Pete Buttigieg’s mayoral term notwithstanding. In smaller communities, people look out for one another, and while in a city like New York or Los Angeles, such a reunion would have been unlikely at best, you could make a case that in South Bend, it was only a matter of time.

In any case, good for Gene Eyster and good for Matthew Hegedus-Stewart. May they develop a firm friendship that lasts the rest of their lives. They have a connection, after all. And, I would add, good for Matthew’s adoptive parents. When a child needs a home, you give them a home, and it is to their credit that they stepped up and did so.