2 Year Old Child Abandoned in FRANKFORT INDIANNA WALMART

Investigators are asking for the public's help in identifying a toddler abandoned Friday afternoon in the city's Wal-Mart Supercenter, left with only a backpack and a handwritten note.

The boy is believed to be about 21/2 years old, named Martín and from Guatemala. Wal-Mart employees found him wandering in the store's fabric department.

"Where he's at now, in foster care, he's been interacting with the other children and playing with them," Maj. Jeff Ward, a detective with the Frankfort Police Department, said Monday. "He understands English, but we're not sure if he speaks it.

"The letter suggests that he was abandoned. Nobody has come forward to report him missing."

Deputy Police Chief Randy Emery said the note, written in Spanish, is believed to have been penned by the boy's mother. In it, she states that the family moved to the United States from Guatemala about a year ago and that her husband left them 10 months ago.

The letter says she does not have the financial means to feed him or provide shelter. His backpack contained a baby bottle, "sippy" cups, diapers and toys, Emery said.

Martín is believed to have been born in January 2006.

Authorities plan to review surveillance video from the store at 2460 E. Wabash St., on Frankfort's east side.

"We believe she left him hoping that someone would take care of him," Emery said. "We're trying to follow up where we can. But right now, we can't even say for sure that the note is authentic. We don't know if he may have been kidnapped."

Ward said officials with the Clinton County Department of Child Services have spoken with the boy. He hopes to be able to interview Martín once the boy is more comfortable with his surroundings.

Ward said the toddler has not been responding to Martín, which the letter states is his name.

Clinton County Prosecutor Anthony Sommer said that Indiana has a safe haven law, which allows parents to leave a child at a hospital or fire department. It's an exception to Indiana's law for neglect of a dependent.

But the child must be younger than 45 days old.

"The thinking was that if there was a young mother who had just given birth, the best place for the child is somewhere where medical services are available," Sommer said. "There was some debate surrounding the creation of it."

He said he would review any reports from police to see if neglect was committed by the boy's parents or guardians.

A store manager at the Frankfort Wal-Mart declined to comment Monday, directing media inquiries to Wal-Mart's corporate offices.

A Wal-Mart spokesman could not be immediately reached Monday for comment.