An infant found dead in a Lancaster city trash bin Monday afternoon was a newborn baby girl who had been placed there some time in the past week, investigators said Tuesday.

Why the child was discarded in a Dumpster behind the Lancaster YMCA and how she died remain a mystery.

An autopsy performed Tuesday afternoon determined the child's gender, but revealed little else about her.

"We were hoping to have more answers from the autopsy," Lancaster city police Captain John Flemming said, after police received results of an autopsy performed by forensic pathologist Dr. Wayne Ross. "We don't know what happened to this child or the circumstances that led to her death."

City police did release more details about the case Tuesday after keeping mum about the investigation in the hours after the girl was found.

There were no obvious signs of trauma on the girl, who was found in a Dumpster normally used for paper trash in the 500 block of North Market Street.

Officers found the baby after a person walking near the bin detected a strong odor from it and called 911. Police said the infant appeared to have been placed on top of trash inside the bin.

The child was wrapped in something — perhaps a bag or blanket — but investigators did not say what the infant had been placed in before being discarded in the Dumpster.

The Dumpster is normally emptied on Tuesdays, police said, which means the girl was likely in the bin for no more than six days.

The recent sunny and hot weather had taken their toll, making it impossible to determine her age or race through an autopsy, police said.

Further tests are expected to reveal more about the child — including whether she was born alive and her cause and manner of death. Results from those tests are expected in the next couple of weeks, police said.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, city police made a plea to the child's mother — and anyone with information about her — to come forward.

"We feel someone is aware of a woman who was pregnant and no longer has the child. We need those people to contact us," Flemming said. "The key is going to be community involvement."

City police can be reached at 735-3300.

Flemming said he believes the mother is likely young, immature and inexperienced, and probably had help in disposing of her child.

"We are likely looking at more people involved than just the mother," the captain said. "Someone could have assisted the mother in doing this."

City police Chief Sam Gatchell echoed Flemming.

"There are young people barely out of childhood themselves having babies," he said. "The maturity is just too low. That could be the reason in this case."

Gatchell said he could not remember an incident in the city in which a deceased baby was found abandoned in a public place.

He did recall a case in 2003 when a baby girl — later named Allison — was found, with her throat slashed, in a burn barrel outside a Strasburg Township school.

"This is a terrible situation," Gatchell said while speaking about the girl who was found Monday. "There was certainly a more desirable solution to (the mother's) issue — if one existed."

One solution, Gatchell said, would have been to drop off the baby at a local hospital, police station or manned fire station.

Pennsylvania's Safe Haven Program, adopted four years ago, allows a parent to drop off her or his child at those locations with no questions asked — as long as the child is not injured.

It was unclear Tuesday what charges the mother might face if she is identified or turns herself in to police.

"The difficult thing is we don't know if we really have a crime here," Gatchell said. "We were hoping the autopsy would have provided some resolution to that."

When Flemming was asked if the woman could be interviewed and released without being charged, he said, "That's a potential solution."

Also unknown Tuesday is what will happen to the body of the unidentified baby girl. Flemming said several churches have expressed interest in financing her burial plot.

Still, Flemming said, "It's premature to say what's going to happen to the child."

Flemming said detectives will continue to conduct interviews and process evidence that may have been left behind with the child in the trash bin.

"This was a tragic event for the community of Lancaster," he said, "but this child was meant to be found."

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com