Baby girl dumped in shopping bag is third abandoned newborn from same parents

An abandoned baby girl discovered in a shopping bag in the freezing cold earlier this year belongs to the same parents as two other abandoned newborns, DNA testing has revealed.

Judge Carol Atkinson confirmed the infant, who was later named Baby Elsa, has two other siblings who were also discovered alone in 2017 and 2019 in London. The children were found over a period of seven years, just miles apart from one another, The Mirror reports.

The other infant, Roman, was also found in a shopping bag, whilst the first baby, nicknamed Harry, was found wrapped in a blanket.

However, despite the horrific discoveries, the police have been unable to identify their parents, prompting an appeal from the Met. An update was announced at East London Family Court on Monday, when the judge confirmed the news could be published.

Below we have highlighted the case of each sibling who were all found in similar conditions.

Baby Elsa

Baby Elsa was found in freezing temperatures in East Ham on the night of January 18 this year. It is believed she was less than an hour old when she was found by a dog walker, wrapped in a towel in a reusable shopping bag with her umbilical cord still attached.

She was discovered at the junction of Greenway and High Street South, and was named Elsa by hospital staff who cared for her, in reference to the freezing temperatures in which she was found and the character from the film Frozen. The Metropolitan Police said at the time it was “highly likely” Elsa was born after a “concealed pregnancy”.

The woman who left Elsa was spotted entering the Greenway from the High Street South entrance at around 8.45pm on the night of January 18, around half an hour before she was found.

Appealing for her mother to come forward in January, Chief Superintendent Simon Crick, lead for policing in Newham, urged anyone with information to urgently get in touch. The BBC reported a previous court hearing was told it took doctors three hours to record Elsa’s temperature due to the cold, with the Met Office confirming temperatures dropped as low as minus 4C on the night.

Barristers for Newham London Borough Council told the court in April due to ongoing investigation into the identity of her parents, no final decision on her care could be made, with a future hearing expected at a later date.

Baby Roman

Baby Roman was also found in freezing temperatures just under five years earlier. Police were called to a park area close to Roman Road and Saxon Road in East Ham at around 10.15pm on January 30 2019.

The force said at the time the baby was found wrapped in a white towel which was put in a shopping bag and then placed on the ground next to a bench in the small children’s playpark. No attempt had been made to hide her. She was found by a dog walker, Rima Zvaliauskas, who told the BBC in 2019 she was “shocked and stressed” by the discovery after hearing a noise coming from a bag.

Roman, which is not her real name, has since been adopted.

Baby Harry

Baby Harry was found wrapped in a white blanket and abandoned in a park on September 17 2017. The boy, named Harry by medical staff, was discovered in an area off Balaam Street in Plaistow, east London. Harry was cared for at a hospital before being discharged and has since been adopted.

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