She was named Baby Kimball by the King County Sheriff's Office detectives who investigated her brief life and tragic death. Her pallbearers were medics from Eastside Fire & Rescue. Those who gathered here said they were determined to show they cared.
"You bring beauty and you bring hope to a confusing and a challenging situation," said Rev. Monty Wright of the Snoqualmie Valley Alliance Church, Fall City.
The newborn baby was found last month by a passerby in the woods off Southeast North Bend Way. Her umbilical cord was still attached but her mother was nowhere to be found. It is that fact that moved so many to spend part of their Saturday here.
"Because don't want the baby to go without someone to come and show some love, respect," said Lana Thomas, of Snoqualmie.
It is an emotion deeply felt here, many organizations that helped pay for the newborn's burial. That includes the TEARS Foundation, which started 14 years ago after Sarah Slack's first child was still born.
"We know what it's like to have to bury a child," said Sarah Slack, if Puyallup. "And it's the most difficult thing that a parent can go through, to have to bury your child."
For this motherless child, they said a prayer.
"Alright, go ahead and release them."
And they let go of balloons.
Their message, said Mary Jacobson of Fall City, is simple.
"Every life matters," she said. "Every baby matters."
The authorities still want the baby's mother to come forward.
And they want to get out another message. The state law allows a newborn to be left at a fire station or at a hospital, no questions asked.
KIRO
