Baby girl ID'd after pregnant mother abandoned her in shopping cart at Lomita store, LASD says

LOMITA, Calif. (KABC) -- Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives have identified an infant girl between seven and nine months old who was abandoned at a store in Lomita, and have also learned the identity of her pregnant mother, authorities said Thursday.

Deputies responded to the 2000 block of Pacific Coast Highway around 5 p.m. Tuesday after a report that a child was left in a shopping cart at a business by a woman who had asked an employee to call for a taxi, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The employee requested the taxi for the woman while she went to the restroom, investigators said..

"When the taxi arrived, the woman left the store, leaving the infant behind in a shopping cart," authorities said in a statement.

The Sheriff's Department on Wednesday released a photo of the child and a surveillance image of the woman, asking for the public's help in identifying them and finding the mother.

The child was initially placed in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services, authorities said.

On Wednesday, "detectives spoke with family members of the abandoned infant who identified her and the biological mother," the Sheriff's Department said in a statement on Thursday morning, adding that the investigation was ongoing.

No other details were provided.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Lomita Sheriff's Station at (310) 539-1661. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.