Baby Elsa dumped in shopping bag in freezing temperatures is third newborn abandoned by same parents
A BABY girl abandoned in a shopping bag in freezing temperatures is the third newborn to be dumped by the same parents.
Baby Elsa was discovered crying by a dog walker on the streets of Newham, East London, in January.
DNA tests have now revealed the newborn has a brother and sister, known as Baby Harry and Baby Roman.
They were discovered abandoned in a similar way in 2017 and 2019, with the parents of all three children still unidentified.
The heartbreaking new twist can now be reported for the first time after a judge lifted restrictions on the link between the siblings.
Baby Harry was found dumped in a park in Plaistow, East London, in September 2017.
He had been wrapped in a white blanket before being rushed to hospital.
His sister Roman was discovered in a park in Newham two years later.
She had been placed in a Sainsbury’s bag then left by a bench as snow and freezing temperatures gripped London.
Both Harry and Roman – not their real names – have since been adopted.
Their younger sister Elsa was wrapped in a towel then left in a shopping bag on the street.
The newborn was less than hour old when she was found and her umbilical cord was still attached.
Although she was extremely cold when discovered, the quick-thinking actions of the dog walker in wrapping her up helped Elsa survive.
As an investigation is ongoing, her birth can’t be registered – meaning no final decision on her care has been made yet.
The Family Court heard the children will all know that they are full siblings and there are plans for them to have some form of contact as they grow up.
A hunt is still ongoing for their parents, with the Met Police still working to identify them.
Judge Carol Atkinson ruled restrictions on the link between the children, who have been described as black, could be lifted following an application by the media.
She said: “There is a clear public interest in reporting this story.
“The abandonment of a baby in this country is a very, very unusual event and there are years where there are no children abandoned, and because of that it is the story of the abandoning of a child that is of public interest.
“It is for the same reason, in our current society, of enormous interest and importance that people know that there is a mother and father out there who felt the need to relinquish their children in this way, three times, and that is of considerable interest, it seems to me.
“If I restrict these rights and the reporting of that story, I think that does impact on public consciousness of these sorts of matters. It restricts the openness of justice.”
Anyone with information on the parents can call police quoting ref CAD 6876/18 Jan.