A 25-year-old mother and her dad have been seized by police accused of letting her newborn baby die before dumping the infant’s body in a snowdrift.

Megan Staude and her father Rodney Staude, 64, face first-degree murder charges after the tot’s body was found beside a road in the city of Norwalk, Iowa State, USA.

The three-week-old infant’s frozen remains were uncovered by police sniffer dogs on 9th March, according to local media.

Staude and her father were arrested after her workmates called police when they realised she was not pregnant anymore and there seemed to be no baby.

Police say the baby’s body was handed to a medical examiner for an autopsy.

Local media reports that Staude could have legally given up her baby under the Safe Haven Act.

Under state law, parents can give up a baby up to 90 days old at a hospital or healthcare facility without being prosecuted.

A parent can also call emergency services and give their child- if it is less than 90 days old – to the first responder who arrives.

Since the Iowa law was enacted in 2002, more than 50 newborns have been declared safe-havens.

All US states have Safe Haven laws, with varying regulations.