London's Metropolitan Police are on the verge of suspending a deeply troubling investigation into the abandonment of three newborn siblings, despite a shocking DNA revelation that linked the children. The case, which has haunted the communities of Plaistow and East Ham for nearly a decade, involves three babies abandoned in similar, chilling circumstances.
A Chilling Pattern of Abandonment
The mystery began on September 17, 2017, when the first baby, a boy later named Harry, was discovered wrapped in a blanket in a Plaistow park. Less than two years later, on January 31, 2019, a second baby girl, named Roman, was found. She was placed in a shopping bag inside another park roughly two kilometres away, discovered by dog walkers who heard her cries just before snow began to fall.
The third child, a baby girl, was found on January 18, 2024, on a bleak pathway near a busy road in East Ham. She was believed to be less than an hour old. Hospital staff, moved by the freezing conditions of her discovery, named her Elsa after the character from the Disney film "Frozen."
DNA Reveals a Family Tragedy
In a pivotal development in June of last year, police announced that DNA testing confirmed all three children share the same parents. This revelation transformed the case from separate incidents into a single, profound family tragedy. Senior investigating officer Jamie Humm stated that while he initially thought the mother was unwilling to come forward, he now holds a "strong feeling" she is unable to do so.
This has raised alarming fears that the mother may be in a coercive or captive situation. "Being a mother, how could you abandon that child?" local resident Charlotte Mallett told AFP, suggesting the mother must have seen no "way out."
Police have exhausted all leads, having reviewed hundreds of hours of CCTV, conducted door-to-door inquiries focused on 400 homes, and even requested DNA samples from Black residents in the area, matching the ethnicity of the babies. A £20,000 reward for information remains unclaimed.
Experts Ponder a Mother in Peril
Forensic psychology expert Professor Kevin Browne of Nottingham University suggested one possibility is that the mother is a migrant desperate to "stay off the radar" of authorities. The extreme risk of giving birth in secret indicates she may be "really terrified," he said.
Lorraine Sherr, a health psychology expert at University College London, described the case as "strange" and "complex," noting that the mother's inability to reach out for help points to significant potential risk to her own safety.
The case is exceptionally rare in modern Britain. According to data cited in court, only eight children were registered as abandoned in England and Wales between 2008 and 2018.
The Children's Futures
While the investigation grows cold, the children are building their lives. Harry and Roman, now eight and six, have been adopted. Baby Elsa is thriving with a temporary foster family. Family court judge Carol Atkinson recently described Elsa as a "beautiful little girl, a raucous bundle of excitement and laughter," and approved the start of her adoption process.
The names of all three siblings have been changed, but authorities hope they can maintain contact as they grow up. Tragically, with no official birth records, they will likely never be able to trace their biological mother. Professor Browne warns this loss will live with them as "emotional pain."
Police are expected to make a formal decision this month to pause the inquiry, warning grimly that they cannot discount the possibility of a fourth child in the future who "may not be so fortunate as Elsa and her siblings."
