Newborn found dead inside portable toilet at Michigan music festival

Baby appeared to have been born alive as placenta, umbilical cord were also found

Published Jul 01, 2026  •  2 minute read

A Michigan State Police vehicle. Photo by Michigan State Police /Facebook

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A newborn baby was found dead inside a portable toilet during a music festival in Michigan over the weekend, police said.

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The body was found Sunday morning in the camping area at the Electric Forest festival being held in Rothbury, 35 km north of Muskegon, Michigan State Police said on the social platform X.

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A worker for the portable toilet vendor was doing routine maintenance when the grim discovery was made, cops added.

“Investigators are asking for the public’s assistance,” police said. “If you were in the area and observed anything unusual or if you have information that you believe may be relevant, we encourage you to come forward.”

Police said the investigation remains ongoing.

Electric Forest organizers mourned the baby’s death in a Facebook post on Sunday evening.

“Forest family, it causes us so much pain to have to share this difficult news with you,” the organizers said, adding that they were “heartbroken” after learning about the infant’s death.

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Baby appeared to have been born alive

Sources told NBC affiliate WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids that the baby appeared to have been born alive inside the washroom as a placenta and umbilical cord were also found.

An autopsy determined that the infant was breathing at birth; however, a postmortem examination found fluid in the baby’s lungs and stomach, the outlet reported Wednesday.

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Many who attended the festival told the outlet that they heard what had happened.

“Didn’t realize it was a newborn until the next morning when we saw the post,” said Haiden Sherman, a festivalgoer from Utah. “It was very sad.”

Rothbury Village president Mike Harris said the music festival generates about $48 million for the local community and that the contract had been extended for another 10 years.

“That’s a lot of money to ignore,” Harris told the outlet. “I know there’s a lot of things that happen at festivals and we feel bad about all of those, but we don’t really have any input. The festival handles everything and they handle it quite well.”

Electric Forest is a multi-genre music festival featuring electronic music and jam bands.

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