A now 8-week-old who disappeared from a Pennsylvania hospital last week has been found safe, according to police.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that infant Ambrose Klingensmith was found in Tennessee with his parents, Daemon Klingensmith, 23, and Jeannette Funnen, 32, and his toddler brother. The Lewisburg Police Department in Tennessee found the family on Tuesday afternoon in Marshall County.
The baby was taken to a local hospital for a medical evaluation. Tennessee social services are currently caring for Ambrose, until Allegheny County Children, Youth & Families can take him into custody. The toddler boy is also safe, according to police, and in the care of social services.
Klingensmith and Funnen were arrested and charged with obstruction in a child abuse case and endangering the welfare of children. They’re behind bars in Tennessee, awaiting extradition back to Pennsylvania.
A medical report by the hospital indicated that the baby’s injuries were “highly concerning for physical abuse.” The infant reportedly had “patterned injury” that caused “substantial pain.”
Doctors said additional testing needed to be done to determine if any internal injuries were present, but the boy was taken from the hospital before the exams were completed.
Klingensmith’s mother, Kimberly, said that she doesn’t think the pair abused the baby and that they were afraid that social services would take Ambrose away from them, according to 11News. The family said that Funnen’s 3-year-old son, Makias Palmer, was once taken from her after a CYS report, but the parents later got him back.
“I think they have an idea in their head that the kids are going to be taken away from them, and they’re never going to see them again,” Kimberly told the outlet.
Klingensmith’s father, Eric, agreed that the parents didn’t Ambrose, stating that they were massaging his stomach to help him use the bathroom, which may have caused bruises found on the baby.
“There might have been a mistake made,” Eric said, according to Action News 4. “There was definitely a bruise. I don’t believe the bruise happened because anybody was trying to hurt the baby.”
“What we heard was the baby was in the hospital because it wasn’t going to the bathroom and that he was supposed to massage the stomach to try to help the bowel movement and I’m hoping something in there happened.”
Funnen reportedly had suicide attempts during her last two pregnancies. Court documents state that she previously had two children taken from her after CYS reports.
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[Feature Photo: Ambrose Klingensmith/Police Handout]
