The mother of a newborn baby is in police custody Monday after the infant was found dead in an apartment closet.

Coney Island Hospital workers called police after the mother told them she had just given birth but did not have a baby in her arms. Police say the mother initially told them that she had thrown the baby down a trash chute at her Nostrand Avenue apartment. That led police and New York Housing Authority (NYCHA) workers to spend time searching dumpsters before finding the baby in the closet. Some neighbors say the family may not have known the 20-year-old was pregnant.

Authorities have not said whether the baby was alive or dead at birth.