California Man Reunites With Cop Who Found Him In Dumpster As Baby; Meets Biological Family

Robin Barton was hours old in 1989 when his biological mother Sabrina Fabiola Diaz placed him in an alleyway dumpster in Santa Ana, California. Barton’s infant cries provoked a 9-1-1 call from neighbors. Police officer Michael Buelna, now retired, answered that call and dug through trash until he saw a bloody umbilical cord attached to the abandoned baby. Barton, now 25, was adopted by a Santa Ana couple and cut off from his biological parents. He couldn’t find them, and they couldn’t find him. But when a local TV station organized a meeting between Barton and the officer Buelna, he’s been able to speak with both of his biological parents.

"For 24 years, I always said I would like to find him, and I finally did," said Marcos Meza, Barton’s biological father. "Many people told me -- ‘he looks like you, the nose, the ears, everything. He looks like you.’”

Meza contacted the TV station after watching a the story about Barton meeting Buelna. Meza had reportedly been searching for Barton for years. He told ABC 7 Los Angeles that his relationship with Diaz was a brief affair. He apparently didn’t know about the birth of his son until after he was pulled out of the by Buelna. Barton’s adoption records were sealed, and Meza had no way to find him. Now, Barton has met his dad, and says he wants to get to know if long-lost family, including five sisters, Meza’s daughters.

"I was raised as an only child, so this is more of a shock," he said.

Well into the 1990s, a significant number of infants were abandoned because mother’s had no easy way to give up their children. Many of the newborns were not as lucky as Barton, and died. New “Safe Haven” laws allowed mothers to leave babies in safe places like hospitals or fire stations, resulting in hundreds of saved lives, IJR reports.

As for Barton’s biological mother, she was apprehended by police shortly after abandoning him and served two years in prison for attempted murder. An immigrant, she was deported after serving her sentence. With help from police, Barton was able to speak to Diaz over the phone. Sympathetic with her plight, Barton says he forgives his mother for the decision she made as a struggling 19-year-old immigrant.

"I don't blame her, and I'm not angry or upset with her. And that I do forgive her," he said, adding that his mother was “a young woman in a very compromising position.”

Barton plans to meet his biological mother in person soon. She currently lives in Mexico.