Woman arrested after allegedly trying to flush newborn baby down IHOP toilet

A heartbreaking scene turned tragic at an IHOP in Bowling Green, Kentucky, after police received a 911 call about a woman bleeding in the bathroom who witnesses said may have suffered a miscarriage. The caller also said the woman was trying to flush the baby down the toilet.

By the time police arrived, the woman had left the scene, but they found a deceased baby, who appeared to be a newborn, in the toilet. Shaniqua Caldwell, 35, was later found in the parking lot of a Red Roof Inn, according to the Bowling Green Daily News.

Caldwell admitted to having been to IHOP, but denied being pregnant. She refused to be evaluated by doctors and claimed she had not had sex in six years. According to WBKOshe also claimed to be related to Michael Jordan and Denzel Washington.

“Based on my interactions with Caldwell, I was concerned about his mental state,” Detective Kyle Scharlow wrote in the citation, according to BGDN. “I was also concerned for her well-being when she refused medical treatment even though she had probably just given birth to a child.”

After police believed she posed a possible danger to herself, Caldwell was taken into custody for an emergency mental health evaluation. She could not provide a local address and said she was from New York, but did not provide an address there either.

She was later released and booked into the Warren Country Regional Jail on a Class A misdemeanor charge of concealing the birth of an infant.

In Kentucky, this charge was enacted in 1975 for persons suspected of concealing the corpse of a newborn in order to conceal the fact that it had been born or to prevent the determination of whether it was born dead or alive.

In this case, the baby's cause of death has not yet been determined, pending an autopsy. Depending on these results, additional charges may be possible.

Caldwell is reportedly being held on $2,500 bail. Police said they believe the lack of identifying information she provided indicates it is highly likely she would not show up in court if she were just cited and released.