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On the corner of 98th Street and Northern Boulevard in Jackson Heights, cars hustle by, people stroll along the sidewalks with shopping bags and groceries, and businesses are open as usual. There is only one eerie reminder of the tragedy that happened at this very location on New Years Eve: the missing garbage cans.

It is believed that 25-year-old Bronx resident Lucila Rojas dumped her two-week-old son Anthony Rojas in a trash bin at this bustling intersection on New Years Eve—the day the infant was released from Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. Now, police are searching for the newborn in a landfill in Pennsylvania along with all the other refuse from the area.

The search for the missing infant began on Monday afternoon, when Rojas told police officers that an armed man kidnapped her son right before his scheduled checkup at Jacobi Hospital. But her story changed as police continued to question her. Rojas then told the police that she dumped her baby in the Bronx. But the police didn’t find anything and her story changed again. Now police allege that Rojas took her son to Queens and abandoned him in a trash bin in Jackson Heights.

On Tuesday morning, Rojas was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, endangering the welfare of a child, and violating the Public Health Law for failing to provide a decent burial.

“The defendant’s alleged suffocation of her innocent and helpless child was both heartless and heartbreaking, particularly when one considers that the child, who had been born prematurely, was given the best medical care in the world in order to have the opportunity of a full and rewarding life,” Queens DA Richard Brown said in a recent statement.

After signing her son out of Jacobi Hospital on Dec. 31, it is alleged that Rojas placed a blanket over the infant’s face to prevent him from breathing, and took a MTA bus from the Bronx to Jackson Heights, Brown said. The charges allege that Rojas then placed the baby in a plastic garbage bag and dumped his body in a trash can on Northern Boulevard.

Jackson Heights residents are appalled and baffled as to why the young mother would trek from the Bronx to Jackson Heights only to abandon her baby on a street where there are two nearby churches and a police station only a few blocks away.

“I have no idea why she came here,” said Walter Barcia, owner of Northern Electric and Repair, a business located at the 98th Street and Northern Boulevard intersection. “I don’t know how someone can do that. It’s crazy to see how a mom could do that to her own child. It’s like an animal.”

Under the Safe Haven Law, Rojas could have left her child with any hospital, police station or fire station, as long as she alerted them of her actions in advance. With the 115th Police Precinct located a few blocks away, neighbors are wondering why she opted to place her baby in a garbage can instead of a police station.

“Why would she leave her baby here?” asked Jose Gutieres, while standing behind the counter of J.L. Deli Mini Mart, a nearby convenience store. “She’s crazy. A lot of people are stupid. There are so many things she could have done with the baby. I would have taken the baby to my house!”

At her arraignment on Tuesday night, Rojas was ordered held without bail. If convicted, she faces up to 25 years to life in prison. The case was adjourned to Jan. 24.