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Sheriff Seeks Help Finding Out Who's Dumping Diapers Along LaPorte County Roads

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Someone has been dumping large quantities of dirty diapers along roads in several rural areas of northwest Indiana, and police have asked for the public's help in finding the culprits.

LaPorte County Jail inmates on a roadside cleanup crew filled the bed of a pickup truck at just one of the five locations where dirty diapers – a mixture of infant and adult diapers – have been dumped in rural Galena Township and Springfield Township, about 20 to 30 miles west of South Bend.

LaPorte County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Kellems said the diapers might have been unloaded by a health care operation.

"It's very, very odd. We've never seen anything like this before," he said.

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Kellem said work crews picked up hundreds of grocery store bags and trash bags containing diapers. The bags have been found along County Road 125 East, County Road 800 North, County Road 900 North, County Road 1000 North, and Fail Road.

"This portion of our county, Galena Township, is particularly beautiful. I mean, there's a lot of rolling hills, and woodlands, and creeks, and rivers," he said. "So it's a beautiful area, and with the number of people that travel through these areas, and you start talking about this amount of fecal matter and soiled diapers, it's absolutely a public health concern."

Police asked anyone who might have witnessed the illegal fly dumping to call 911.

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