Young Cop Reunites with Retired Officer Who Found Him Abandoned as a Baby Nearly 25 Years Ago

“Thank you for everything you did for me,” Officer Hegedus-Stewart told now-retired Indiana police officer Gene Eyster

• South Bend police officer Matthew Hegedus-Stewart has reunited with Gene Eyster nearly 25 years after the now-retired cop found Hegedus-Stewart abandoned as an infant

• Hegedus-Stewart was found inside a box at a local apartment complex in December 2000, and later nicknamed "Baby Jesus" by Eyster

• The two men reconnected for the first time in March 2024 after another officer realized he was working with the young man who Eyster helped rescue

A young Indiana police officer has recently reunited with a retired cop who came to his rescue nearly 25 years ago.

Gene Eyster, who retired in 2019, was working as a lieutenant for the South Bend Police Department when he and other officers were called to the Park Jefferson Apartments on Dec. 22, 2000.

The SBPD said a man living in the building called police after hearing the sound of a baby crying and stumbling upon a box with an infant inside “wrapped in blankets and a flannel shirt.”

The child, who was just two days old, was transported to a local hospital, where he was cared for by labor and delivery nurses.

Related: Colorado Cops Help Deliver Triplets After Responding to Call About a Screaming Woman

Eyster helped spread the word about the child, whom he dubbed “Baby Jesus” since he was found “so close to Christmas” — and even bought him a teddy bear for comfort.

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Eventually, the child’s parents were found, and the boy’s mother “faced a neglect charge. Meanwhile, the baby was adopted by a new family and started life anew.

Coincidentally, the once-abandoned baby eventually became a police officer himself — and worked for the same police department that came to his rescue nearly 25 years prior.

And in March 2024, Eyster got a chance to meet that man: Officer Matthew Hegedus-Stewart.

“You’re a little bit bigger now,” Eyster joked during the meeting.

The following week, Eyster and Hegedus-Stewart met face-to-face for the first time since Hegedus-Stewart was a baby. They spent time reconnecting and looking at old documents and photos from the day Baby Jesus was found.

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“Thank you for everything you did for me,” Hegedus-Stewart told Eyster.

Now, Eyster and Hegedus-Stewart are sharing their story with Today, CBS Evening News, Fox News and more.

Hegedus-Stewart is also a father to 14-month-old Aspen, whom he shares with his wife Jillian. Adding another sweet layer to the story, the family said Aspen was born on the same day Hegedus-Stewart was adopted, perToday.

“There are so many coincidences,” Eyster told the outlet. “I mean, Matt completes his field training and randomly gets assigned to the same beat of the apartment complex where he was found. What are the odds?”

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