The search to find the mother of three babies abandoned in London has been narrowed down to just 400 homes, as police face a race against time to solve the case before a fourth child is potentially found.
The three siblings, named Harry, Roman and Elsa, were found abandoned in 2017, 2019, and 2024, respectively, within a few miles of each other, in what police have described as a “wholly unprecedented” case.
Elsa, the youngest, was found wrapped in a towel in sub-zero temperatures in a reusable shopping bag on 18 January last year, at the junction of Greenway and High Street South in East Ham in east London.
Hospital staffed named her after the character in the Disney film Frozen.
Roman was found in similar circumstances a short distance away, in a play area off Roman Road, Newham, in late January 2019, as freezing temperatures and snow gripped the capital.
Their brother, Harry, was found wrapped in a white blanket in Balaam Street, Plaistow, in September 2017.
Since the babies have been discovered, officers have worked extensively to identify their parents, but to date they have not been able to do so.
Why could these 400 homes be key?
The answer to the mystery around the abandonment of the babies “is in the community”, according to Noel McHugh, national senior investigating officer adviser for the South East at the NCA.
The siblings, who are black, were abandoned in areas not covered by CCTV but detectives believe the person who abandoned the children, who may or may not have been their mother, could have travelled from one of 400 properties near the eastern section of the Greenway.
Officers have been going door-to-door in East Ham and Plaistow, in an attempt to uncover information which may lead to the identification of the mother of the children.
Residents are being asked to provide DNA samples so police can ascertain any link to the babies, but they are under no obligation to provide DNA samples.
The National Crime Agency is also helping to shape the questions that police ask members of the public on the doorstep.
Detective Inspector Jamie Humm, the case’s senior investigating officer, said he believes the children’s mother “is in danger” and unable to contact police.
In January this year, the charity Crimestoppers offered a £20,000 reward for information.
Police have focused their efforts on trying to find the mother and provide her with support.
Mr Humm said: “In any police investigation you make your tactical decisions around hypotheses, and the hypothesis that, as senior investigating officer, I believe is most likely, is that the mother of these children is vulnerable, is in danger, and is in a position where they feel that they are unable to come forward for whatever reason.
“We are treating mum as a victim in this case, and we are on standby to support her with everything she needs.”
What has happened to the three children?
Mr McHugh said it was a “miracle” the children survived because of the conditions in which they were abandoned.
Elsa, now one, is in foster care.
Mr Humm told the BBC he met her a couple of months ago and described her “very curious” he says. “Very engaging. No fear.”
Roman and Harry, whose names have now been changed, have been adopted.
Why are police facing a race against time?
Police are unable to rule out a fourth sibling being abandoned before they find whoever who has left each of the children in east London.
Mr Humm said: “We can’t be blind to the fact that there may be a fourth [baby], and certainly the passage of time and the cycles of nine months it would take to potentially get pregnant and birth a child, mean that we cannot discount that.
“That means, again, I’m appealing to the public, because if there is another abandoned child, that child may not be as fortunate as Elsa and her siblings.”
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