Police said a toddler was found abandoned in the parking lot of a Delaware hospital on Saturday. He had a note with him.

The note left with the abandoned boy left no question that the child was being abandoned, according to Joe Smack with Family Services.

The handwritten note in his diaper read, "Please help my baby John Vincent I can no longer take care of him. Lost job, lost medical. God have mercy on me."

"We can confirm a note was found with the child confirming for investigators that the mother was intending to abandon her child," Sgt. Jeffrey Whitmarsh of the Delaware State Police.

Registered nurse Marissa Walls said she was surprised when returning from lunch Saturday at about 12:45 p.m. to find the 12- to 18-month-old boy sitting all alone on the ground under a tree in a parking space outside the hospital. She said he was crying for attention and in danger of being run over.

"I scooped him up. He came right to me," said the nurse from Wilmington. "I walked him up to the maternity entrance there, which it takes a good two minutes to walk up there, so anybody who was looking at me had ample time to claim their baby. But no one called me, and I was very surprised."

Although he was alone, police said he was bathed, wearing clean clothing and appeared very well cared for.

Mom Possibly Identified

Police said Friday that they believe they have identified the mother, but the only thing left inside her apparently abandoned New Jersey apartment were a few packed boxes and baby items, including diapers, toys and a crib, Philadelphia TV station WCAU reported.

Police said they are looking for Amy Giordano, 25, of Hightstown, N.J., and they believe the boy is her son Michael.

The woman's landlord recognized the boy from a photo in the news and called police, and a pediatrician and a friend have also identified the missing boy as being Giordano's son, police said.

Authorities described the suspected mother as 5 feet, 135 pounds, and she may be wearing glasses.

After finding the apartment deserted, Hightstown police declared Giordano as a missing person, although authorities asserted that there were no signs of foul play.

State police in New Jersey and Delaware are working with the Delaware Division of Family Services, Highstown police and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

After the New Jersey landlord tipped police off, telling them that Giordano rents an apartment on top of a nail salon from him, police looked inside, but did not find the woman.

Authorities took hair samples from a brush inside the apartment, and they are also awaiting a DNA test and footprint records from New Jersey to confirm the child's identity.

Giordano was last heard from June 6, when she spoke to a friend in Florida over the phone.

According to Delaware officials, abandonment in the state is quite rare. The only other case that comes to mind was a newborn found in a Dover trashcan three years ago, and that child has since been adopted.

Delaware has a Safe Arms for Babies Act that allows any child 2 weeks old or younger to be given up at any Delaware Hospital or Medical Center, with virtually no questions asked, except for medical information and a family contact number.

Children older than that are considered abandoned, and the Division of Family Services could move to have Family Court terminate parental rights within 30 days, so the child could be up for adoption within six months.

Area parents expressed shock at the abandonment and asked why a parent would do that.

"Probably just a lack of understanding of the importance of life itself," said one mother, while acknowledging that having kids "is a lot of work, yes."

"I feel very sorry for that mother, that she doesn't have her priorities in order when there are people out here who, you know, want to have children," said Terri Ray, of Newark.

If anyone has information about this child, they are asked to contact investigators at the Delaware State Police, at 302-834-2620 extension 5, or the Division of Family Services at 1-800-292-9582.

"I'm really happy that I found him and not someone who may not have done the right thing," Walls said.

Help For Desperate Parents

Even though the child is too old for the state's Safe Arms For Baby law, there are options for people who find themselves in dire straits.

They can call the Delaware help line at 800-464-help. It's always open. The help line is a one-stop shopping location for people who are desperate for help in any situation raging from family crisis to drugs to housing. Experts who answer the hot line will direct people to help in their community.

The toddler abandoned last weekend is likely now living with a foster family who's interested in adoption, according to Smack. Anyone who calls now to adopt the child will probably not get him.

How You Can Help

Smack pointed out there are at least 100 other children in Delaware who are waiting to be adopted. He said anyone interested in helping foster kids should call Jennifer Young at 302-633-2643. People can call to get information about adopting, or about making a smaller commitment such as funding tuition for summer camp for a child or paying for prom expenses for a teenage foster child.