Murder hunt re-launched over newborn found dead in bushes
Detectives have been unable to identify the baby and her mother but say the child died as a result of deliberate head injuries.
Tuesday 16 January 2018 05:32, UK
Police have re-launched a manhunt after a newborn baby was found dead with multiple head injuries in the bushes of a car park.
The newborn, named as Baby M by officers, was discovered at the edge of Manor Park in Aldershot, Hampshire, by a council staff member on 19 May 2017.
Police are appealing for the public's help again after having no luck in finding the child's parents.
Scientific analysis found the birth most likely happened in bushes next to the park between 6pm on 15 May and 8am the following day.
Detective chief inspector Dave Storey said this led to a review of CCTV footage which found images of two people walking past the birth scene 10 times between 11.30pm on 15 May and 12.30am on 16 May.
A post-mortem examination found the child died within six hours of her birth.
The baby suffered multiple blunt force injuries to her head and other minor injuries to her body.
DCI Storey said a DNA profile taken from the baby showed her mother, and probably the child's father, were of East Asian ethnicity.
"This remains a particularly sad case which despite extensive investigation we are still are nowhere nearer to identifying the newborn baby, Baby M, nor her mother," he said.
"We have a baby who is unnamed and at this stage is still not buried and we would like some assistance in order to identify the mother and obtain some justice for Baby M.
"Initially when the investigation was launched we were concerned regarding the health of the mother, so there were lots of inquiries undertaken with local partners, NHS and local communities in order to identify the mother which were unsuccessful."
He added: "We have carried out lots of inquiries since then including pathology, scientific work regarding the baby's ancestry and what was established fairly early on was the baby's death was a result of deliberate head injuries and as such we launched a murder inquiry.
"We still would like to identify the mother and provide some support because it takes an awful lot for a mother to give birth to a child to then either kill the baby or have the baby taken away from her and killed immediately afterwards."
DCI Storey said detectives "strongly believe" the couple who walked past the birth scene 10 times may be connected with the birth and subsequent murder.
He asked the public to come forward if they witnessed anything or have any information to identify the pair.
Police are also carrying out house-to-house inquiries in and around Manor Park to try to identify witnesses.