Couple finds abandoned newborn with her umbilical cord attached after noticing a blanket with two little feet moving

A Texas couple sprang into action as soon as they noticed an abandoned newborn with her umbilical cord still attached while walking on a trail Saturday morning.

Daniela Fedele said she and her husband were strolling along Casa Martin Drive in Katy, Texas when they noticed a towel on the ground.

Her three-year-old daughter started to ride her bike toward it - before Fedele said she realized something was moving underneath.

'I noticed two little feet moving and then my husband was right behind me with the dogs and I yelled to my husband and I'm like, "Oh my God, a baby, a baby,"' Fedele recounted to KHOU.

'And then my husband [says] like, "Call 911, call 911," and that's what we did.'

Surveillance footage captured the moment the newborn baby was abandoned, showing a man scan around him before leaving the infant on the ground.

The same moment he places the child on the street, he sprinted from the scene at full pace, and police say they have since started an investigation to search for him.

It is unclear how long the baby was left on the street before Fedele saved it, with Harris County Sheriff's deputies saying they received a call at around 9am and rushed to the scene.

Meanwhile, Fedele and her husband tried to keep the infant safe - and their quick thinking was praised by local police for saving the infant's life.

Surveillance footage showed the couple running towards the baby with their dogs and Fedele's husband grabbing it, before racing to get the child out of the sun.

'Once my husband went ahead and picked up the baby, he found the nearest, like tree, right there at the house down the street. He found a little shade,' Fedele said.

They then waited until deputies from the Harris County Sheriff's Office arrived on the scene and handed the infant over, telling officials they saw a man running away.

The baby girl was then transported to a local hospital, where she was listed in good condition, according to KHOU.

Authorities said Fedele and her husband may have rescued the infant from death, and described them as a 'blessing' in its moment of need.

'The two witnesses that were thankfully walking on the trail with their daughter and their dogs were a blessing,' said Sgt. Juan Garcia, who works in the Child Abuse Unit.

'The baby was a newborn... still had, you know, fresh placenta on the baby, so it was freshly born this morning,' he noted.

Fedele says she can't get the image out of her head, as she wonders how somebody could abandon their baby.

'I was shocked, I was mad, I was upset,' she said of finding the newborn, adding that there are options for new parents who don't wish to raise a baby.

'You can drop it off at a fire station, a police station, a hospital, I don't know... but don't leave the baby.'

Police say cases of people abandoning infants are rare, and are now looking for a man they believe dumped the baby.

He is described as a young Hispanic or white male, with a slim build and a fair complexion. He was wearing a black shirt and possibly gray pants at the time of the abandonment.