Cop rescues 'Baby Jesus' left behind in a box — 24 years later, he realizes who the child turned out to be
Life came to a full circle for a retired police officer in South Bend, Indiana after an abandoned baby he saved decades ago contacted him. He did not realize the bizarre coincidence until they met up and the officer discovered how the kid was doing in life. Gene Eyster, a police lieutenant at the time, was on duty when he received a strange call about a baby found in a common hallway on December 22, 2000, per CBS News. Reaching the location, Eyster was unnerved to actually find the nine-month-old baby all alone, wrapped in blankets, and placed in a cardboard box. The case was filed as “Baby Boy Doe.”
"That was one of the strangest calls I think I've ever had: 'We have a found baby in a box.' You always wonder, what happened?” Eyster recalled in the interview. The veteran of 47 years took him to the hospital first thing after some inspection, following the protocols. But his duties did not end there. Eyster, quite thoughtfully, returned to the boy to place a teddy bear next to him, ensuring people knew the baby was loved. "He was born a couple of days before Christmas and placed in a box — and in my mind, that box was a manger. So, he became Baby Jesus," the police officer noted. However, this was the final meeting between Eyster and the baby before they would reunite 24 years later.
According to the source, he only had information that "Baby Jesus" was adopted but that was about it, as data records were sealed. Eyster continued, "I wondered, 'What did he turn out to be?' And God forbid, have I ever arrested him? Was he still alive?" Fair to say, he was not ready for the universe to align the stars and find his way back to the baby’s life he had saved two decades ago. One fine day, he received a random call from another police officer from the South Bend PD claiming that Baby Jesus was sitting right beside him. Turns out, the boy had grown up to follow in his life-saver’s footsteps and become a police officer at exactly the same police department in Indiana.
"He goes, 'You're not going to believe this, but Baby Jesus is sitting next to me right now. He's my rookie,'" remembered Eyster. Matthew Hegedus-Stewart, aka Baby Jesus, aka the baby in the box found in 2000, was adopted soon after his rescue. The source mentioned that Hegedus-Stewart was aware of his unfortunate fate as a baby boy and made an effort to trace it back to Eyster after joining the force. The boy, now 24, also patrols the neighborhood he was found in, also one Eyster patrolled years ago. "Full circle moment. That hit home. I can only imagine from his point of view,” Hegedus-Stewart remarked.
Call it divine timing, but it was meant to be, it seems. Eyster could only believe what he was experiencing, days after he had lost his only son, Nick, at the age of 36. In the video interview, shared by CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews), the duo greeted each other with an embrace. Hegedus-Stewart was in his police uniform while Eyster grinned from ear to ear. "So the timing couldn't have been any better, it helped to fill a void that I've had to deal with," an emotional Eyster said. A happy ending, no doubt.