MADERA, Calif. — Authorities are searching for the mother of a newborn girl found in the middle of a rural road in Central California in near-freezing temperatures.

KFSN-TV reports the baby, believed to be hours old, was covered only with a blanket when a newspaper carrier found her before dawn Monday on the center line of the road in Madera County. The child is hospitalized in good condition and is expected to fully recover.

Sheriff’s officials say a man walking around 4:30 a.m. was approached by a woman in a white SUV who asked him to take her baby. He refused and suggested she take the newborn to a hospital.

The newspaper carrier discovered the baby a short time later and brought her into a vehicle to keep her warm.