FATEFUL ENCOUNTER

Retired Cop Gets Shocking Call About Abandoned Baby He Saved in 2000

Matthew Hegedus-Stewart, now a rookie cop, was assigned to a domestic call at the same apartment building where he was left in a box as a baby.

A rookie police officer dropped a bombshell on colleagues when he was sent to a domestic call at an apartment building in South Bend, Indiana: “I was like, ‘I was abandoned as a baby here,’” Matthew Hegedus-Stewart, 23, recalled to Today. His admission led to a fateful reunion with the man who had rescued him. Retired cop Gene Eyster, 70, told Today he’d never forgotten about the baby he’d rescued just a few days before Christmas 2000, stopping to buy the infant a teddy bear so he’d “know he was cared about.” Fast forward to this spring, and Eyster got a shocking call about the baby he’d dubbed “Baby Jesus.” “I’m sitting here 23 years later and the phone rings,” he said. The officer on the line then said, “‘You’re not going to believe this, but Baby Jesus is sitting next to me right now. He’s my rookie.’” The two were reunited March 22, and Eyster said he was relieved to see that “Baby Jesus” had a wonderful upbringing despite his rough start.