Mom of baby found in box wanted for attempted murder

PHILADELPHIA - February 15, 2012

Today, police are on the hunt for the woman they say left her there, her mother, 33–year-old Patricia "Dina" Crawley.

"I can't get into the head of the individual. I guess what I do observe is this is a 33-year-old woman; this was not a teenager," Philadelphia Police Captain John Darby said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Captain Darby says after a number of tip calls, investigators were able to identify Crawley as a potential suspect.

On January 4th, they even found her in the Frankford section of the city and brought her into SVU for questioning.

But they didn't have enough to hold her because she denied being the mother of the baby hospital staff named Noel.

Police did take a DNA sample from Crawley and, two days ago, it came back a match.

"We had her under our roof in here. It was an opportunity at that particular time to kind of straighten things out, to take possession of that baby and let us know, that didn't happen," Darby said.

Detectives have been on the search for Crawley in places she's known to frequent.

Her last known address was 1825 Gillingham Street. She is also known to frequent 26th Street and Lehigh Avenue.

Action News has learned she has a long criminal history which includes drug arrests. Crawley also has two other children but they live with their fathers.

The mother is now wanted for several charges including attempted murder, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of this baby girl.

"As part of the charging process, doctors were consulted multiple times and in fact this baby was very much in danger of dying out there just before Christmas, in a box left on the street in cold temperatures," Darby said.

Baby Noel was left near a daycare on December 21st, wrapped in blankets, but investigators don't know if Crawley was hoping someone would find the child.

77-year-old Homer Keller told Action News it was just after 10:00 a.m. that day when he noticed a box.

He was cleaning up the area for a local church at the corner of West Huntingdon and North 27th Street.

Keller said he picked up the box, thinking it was trash, and was about to discard it whe he heard a noise.

"I heard whimpering. You know, sounded like cats or something, and then the baby started crying in the box," said Keller.

Keller said he couldn't imagine how anyone could leave a baby outside in a box on a cloudy, rainy day.

"I pulled the covers back, and there was the baby," said Keller. "I thought it was a doll baby, but then it started moving and crying."

Police say the baby was wrapped in a hounds tooth blanket, an adult sized brown women's sweater, a black bathrobe and a large peach colored bath towel.

The baby was rushed to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children where it was determined that the baby girl had been born only a few hours earlier.

Keller said he was just grateful he found the baby alive.

"She's so cute, and thank God she survived," Keller said.

The Department of Human Services tells Action News, Noel is healthy and with a foster family.