Fake fetus in trash sparks police visit

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Police in St. Pete Beach, Fla., said officers responding to a report of a fetus in a trash bin determined the object was a plastic replica used for training.

Investigators said a woman called police Tuesday night after spotting the object in a trash bin behind the Gulfcoast Ultrasound Institute, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Wednesday.

Officers dug through a layer of bubble wrap and found a baby-like object in a hardened block of gel that the owners of the institute, Gilbert and Lori Green, identified as a teaching tool known as a phantom fetus. They said the doll is designed to help train doctors and nurses to perform ultrasound procedures.

The Greens said the item had been thrown away during an office cleaning.

Sgt. Jim Baugher said officers would dispose of the phantom fetus at the police station.