In a case that moved seasoned detectives to tears, the Metropolitan Police are preparing to close their investigation into three newborn babies abandoned in near-identical, freezing circumstances in East London. DNA tests confirmed the heartbreaking revelation that all three children were siblings.
A Trail of Heartbreak in the Cold
The saga began in September 2017 in Plaistow, where a newborn boy, named Harry by hospital staff, was discovered wrapped in a white blanket in a bush. Two years later, in January 2019, a second baby boy—later named Roman—was found in the same area. He was wrapped in a white towel inside a shopping bag amid sub-zero temperatures.
The third chilling discovery came in January 2024. A dogwalker found a baby girl, just an hour old, left in a Boots shopping bag as temperatures plunged to -4C. She was named Elsa, after the Disney 'Frozen' character, due to the icy conditions. Miraculously, all three infants survived.
The Exhaustive Hunt for a 'Ghost'
Fearing a fourth abandonment, Detective Inspector Jamie Humm and a team of 15 officers launched a unique and extensive inquiry. They scoured 450 hours of local CCTV but found no trace of the parents. Police believe the infants were left near the Greenway footpath in Newham, a location deliberately chosen for its lack of surveillance.
"How can you have the most surveilled city in the world and someone drop three babies off without being identified?" DI Humm said. "From that point... you are effectively looking for a ghost."
The investigation escalated with help from the National Crime Agency (NCA). A geographic profiler narrowed the search to an area containing roughly 400 houses. Officers then began the painstaking process of door-knocking, asking residents to volunteer DNA samples to compare against a profile of the mother built from the children's genetics.
National Search and Dwindling Hope
Detectives pursued hundreds of leads across the UK—from Scotland and Wales to East Anglia and the Cotswolds—tracking down partial DNA matches from police records and even investigating family trees of deceased individuals. Over 100 houses were visited, with officers often having to trace and test entire families.
"We travelled the absolute length and breadth of the country," recalled DI Humm. While the public was supportive, each promising familial match ultimately led to a dead end.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford, who leads on public protection, stated: "At times it has felt like we were close... but each time it turned out not to be them. We felt like we needed to do absolutely everything we could."
Now, with a review scheduled for January 2025, the case is nearing its end. Hope is dwindling. Mr Basford conceded the mother may have gone abroad, been forced to leave, or could be under someone else's control. While new intelligence would be acted upon, police have "exhausted pretty much everything we can do."
