UK - Three abandoned babies (2017, 2019, 2024) full siblings found in London

[seasideForest]

Update on baby Elsa 'doing well' and plea for information: Baby Elsa: Abandoned baby 'doing well' but parents still unknown

 

[Goecke]

A few months ago I posted here talking genetic testing to see if Elsa and her siblings were born out of incest, particularly testing for regions of homozygosity and how it can show shared ancestry but can't be definitively rule incest in or out.

Turns out I was partially wrong. In certain cases, the %ROH (AKA the portion of the genome that is identical) is simply too high to account for the distant shared ancestry commonly seen in patients with ancestry from small/insular ethnic groups. But %ROH only gets so high to where incest is the only explanation in cases where the parents are first degree relatives (parent/child or full siblings), or second degree relatives if there's a generational history of incest (cousins, half-siblings, uncle/neice, aunt/nephew, grandparent/grandchild). So if Elsa's parents were cousins and there was no other inbreeding in the family, ROH testing would be uninformative. It's definitely not a foolproof way to test for incest unless the parents are VERY closely related.

 

[Luwin]

£20,000 reward offered as police search for parents of three abandoned babies

Police appeal for information relating to three babies abandoned by the same parents shortly after birth in east London. A reward of £20,000 is also being offered by Crimestoppers.

www.bbc.co.uk

Police have released a new appeal for information relating to three babies abandoned by the same parents shortly after birth in east London.
A reward of £20,000 is also being offered by Crimestoppers.
It is exactly one year since Baby Elsa was found alive in a shopping bag near the Greenway footpath in east London, just an hour old.
Police have now released a photo of the Boots carrier bag.

 

[MarziPanda]

I wonder if Boots have provided info as to when that particular style of bag was sold. It looks older to me, I don't think I've seen them in that style for a while.

I get the impression that the police are a lot less concerned about charging the mother and a lot more concerned about her welfare, which is quite right. Nobody abandons three babies in the modern day just for fun, there must be a reason. Whether that be immigration fears, drugs, an abusive relationship, money issues, or something more extreme like being held in modern slavery.

I'm reminded of Mo Farah's story, where he was trafficked over as a child to work as 'house help'. I wonder if the mother could be trafficked 'house help' and the father is her 'employer' (heavy on the quote marks because she wouldn't be getting paid!). Then perhaps the woman seen abandoning Elsa could be the father's wife, who turns a blind eye because she would be prosecuted too.

It's a good thing social services seems to be aware of the importance of sibling relationships and has said the siblings will know each other.

 

[MarziPanda]

To add: the privacy laws that might prevent usual genetic genealogy don't really apply in this case because the three children are alive. It's probably against safeguarding and privacy practices for it to be done in an official capacity by the police or social services, but there's nothing stopping the adoptive parents of the older two from DNA testing their child. I know lots of people who have DNA tested their children for various reasons.

Even if matches are minimal it would at least provide some clues, like the heritage of the parents. A more mixed (various different African/Caribbean communities) heritage could indicate their families have been in the UK for a few generations, whilst something very pinpointed (such as solely Somali heritage for example) could indicate they might be more recent immigrants.

 

[Scottish_Person]

DNA-tests have revealed that baby Elsa, found in a shopping bag on 19 January, 2024, is a full sibling of Harry, found in 2017, and of Roman, found in 2019. The two boys have been adopted, and little Elsa is in a foster home, but it's planned that they will have some contact while they are growing up. It's very strange that three full siblings have been found abandoned, I wonder why the parents are doing this, as it's obvious they are still together seven years after the birth of the first child.

Baby found dumped in shopping bag was just an hour old, police reveal

Police launched an urgent appeal for information after the baby girl was found wrapped in a towel by a member of the public walking their dog in Newham on Thursday.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Babies found dumped in shopping bags in London parks will be reunited

The trio of children were dumped in parks with the most recent - a baby girl - being found at just an hour after she was born in a shopping bag in Newham amid sub-zero temperatures in January.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I dont think the parents are a couple. I too feel that this must be a case of repeated abuse. A family member abusing another family member, resulting in pregnancy, which has perhaps been able to be concealed until the baby is born. People are wondering a why a couple who are still together are abandoning their babies. It is obviously the same man impregnating this woman, but it doesn’t seem to me to be a ‘couple’ in the usual sense. It is iMOO, long term sexual abuse of a family member who has been able to keep the abuse - and the resulting pregnancies - secret. Beggars belief. I hope I’m wrong.

 

[Skigh]

I dont think the parents are a couple. I too feel that this must be a case of repeated abuse. A family member abusing another family member, resulting in pregnancy, which has perhaps been able to be concealed until the baby is born. People are wondering a why a couple who are still together are abandoning their babies. It is obviously the same man impregnating this woman, but it doesn’t seem to me to be a ‘couple’ in the usual sense. It is iMOO, long term sexual abuse of a family member who has been able to keep the abuse - and the resulting pregnancies - secret. Beggars belief. I hope I’m wrong.

Unfortunately,that is what I feel is happening.

 

[Scottish_Person]

Such a strange set of circumstances! Obviously something very mentally wrong with the parents.

I don’t think it is a couple behind it, parents as such. IMOO it there is systematic abuse going on, perhaps incestuous, where the same man is impregnating the girl/woman, she is managing to conceal the abuse AND each pregnancy and then leaving the babies to be found as soon as they are born. Tragic. And if true, has genetic implications for the babies development.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The reward was announced on the anniversary of the third child - Elsa - being found. Officers in East London have reviewed almost 500 hours of CCTV in this latest case - looking for somebody who is carrying a distinctive blue, reusable shopping bag, which contained the newborn baby girl before she was left at the junction of Greenway and High Street in East Ham on January 18 last year.

UK police offering reward for info on 3 baby siblings abandoned over 8 years

Elsa, Roman and Harry share the same mother - police want to find her

www.corkbeo.ie

 

[MrsWatson]

Oh my, I have that same exact Boots bag! I use it all the time. I got it at least five years ago, I haven't seen them sold in quite a while.

 

[FromGermany1]

So desperately sad

Who gave the babies names: the mother (with a notice) or Child Welfare/Police?

 

[MarziPanda]

Who gave the babies names: the mother (with a notice) or Child Welfare/Police?

I believe police/social services/others. Nurses named Elsa that because it was so cold the night she was found, so it's after the character in Frozen. Roman I believe was named after the street she was found? Not sure. I definitely remember reading about the nurses naming Elsa though, it's in the BBC article above.

 

[Luwin]

Who gave the babies names: the mother (with a notice) or Child Welfare/Police?

The authorities/police - elsa was so named as she was freezing cold when found- from Disneys Frozen. Not sure if the rationale behind Harry and Roman

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Detective inspector Jamie Humm of the Metropolitan Police's child abuse investigation team said: “We have carried out extensive inquiries over the past year to try and locate Elsa’s parents. This has involved reviewing over 450 hours of CCTV and completing a full DNA structure of the mother

Huge update in hunt for parents of three abandoned babies

Crimestoppers have issued a £200,000 reward for information on Baby Elsa's parents, who abandoned the newborn, and her two infant siblings in East Ham over a seven year period

www.dailystar.co.uk

Investigators added that they have 'serious concerns' for the wellbeing of both, but 'especially the mother'.

£20,000 reward to find baby Elsa's parents a year after tot was dumped

A £20,000 reward is being offered to help find the parents of siblings Elsa Roman and Harry, who were abandoned in parks in London over an eight-year period.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[Kittypoo]

Detective inspector Jamie Humm of the Metropolitan Police's child abuse investigation team said: “We have carried out extensive inquiries over the past year to try and locate Elsa’s parents. This has involved reviewing over 450 hours of CCTV and completing a full DNA structure of the mother

Huge update in hunt for parents of three abandoned babies

Crimestoppers have issued a £200,000 reward for information on Baby Elsa's parents, who abandoned the newborn, and her two infant siblings in East Ham over a seven year period

www.dailystar.co.uk

View attachment 558465
Investigators added that they have 'serious concerns' for the wellbeing of both, but 'especially the mother'.

£20,000 reward to find baby Elsa's parents a year after tot was dumped

A £20,000 reward is being offered to help find the parents of siblings Elsa Roman and Harry, who were abandoned in parks in London over an eight-year period.

www.dailymail.co.uk

£20,000 or £200,000 ?

 

[Sarahlou]

£20,000 or £200,000 ?

£20,000

£20,000 reward offered as police search for parents of three abandoned babies

Police appeal for information relating to three babies abandoned by the same parents shortly after birth in east London. A reward of £20,000 is also being offered by Crimestoppers.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[callmehenry]

The authorities/police - elsa was so named as she was freezing cold when found- from Disneys Frozen. Not sure if the rationale behind Harry and Roman

Roman because of the road or the park the baby was found at, not sure of Harry though

 

[DoctorRose]

Omg the baby in the striped onesie is such a cutie. I hope they can find the mother and confirm her well-being.

 

[callmehenry]

Apologies if it’s already been mentioned but what if the mother is someone being held against their will and they aren’t on a missing persons database simply because they had no one to miss them as such