£20,000 offered to find parents of three abandoned babies

Police have issued a new appeal for information relating to three babies abandoned by the same parents soon after birth in east London.

A reward of £20,000 is also being offered by Crimestoppers.

It’s been exactly a year since baby Elsa, just an hour old, was found alive in a shopping bag near a Greenway footpath in east London.

Police have now released a photo of Boots’ carrier bag.

The baby was feeling extremely cold so hospital staff named her “Elsa” after the character from the Disney film Frozen.

Baby “Harry” was found in September 2017, shortly after his birth, once again wrapped in a blanket.

The second newborn, “Roman”, was found in freezing temperatures in February 2019, wrapped in a white towel and placed in a shopping bag.

As the BBC revealed last year, DNA tests presented at the East London Family Court revealed that the three abandoned children are full siblings.

All names have been changed and all three are healthy.

Police have reviewed more than 450 hours of CCTV footage and prepared a complete DNA profile of the children’s mother.

Experts working with police believe the mother and possibly the father have lived in Plaistow or East Ham for the last six years.

Detective Inspector Jamie Hamm said: “We have serious concerns for the welfare of the parents, particularly the mother.”

He said he believed someone in the area would have been aware of the mother’s pregnancy and “there may have been concerns for the welfare of this mother within the community”.

He urged people to contact police if they have any information, no matter how small.

He said all three children are “thankfully” healthy.

The Family Court heard in December that Elsa was still in foster care and “doing very well”.

The older children have been adopted, and Newham Children’s Services plans to do the same for Elsa.

However, the local authority cannot register Elsa’s birth until the police investigation is active.

Without this, the local authority cannot complete his evidence before the family court and seek its approval for his adoption.

The court heard that officers were “very concerned” about the delay.

Nine hearings have so far taken place before senior judge Carol Atkinson at East London Family Court.

He said in December that baby Elsa was living with a “constant state of uncertainty”, and that it was not possible for carers to “pursue a relationship” with her older siblings while the proceedings were still ongoing.

Professor Loren Sher of University College London has conducted a study on children abandoned at birth.

He said the delay in the court process was a “double whammy” for the little girl.

“She can’t live her new life, or have relationships with her siblings,” he said. “Nor does she know who her parents are.”

Children who are abandoned at birth may spend decades searching for their parents, even into their 70s and 80s, he said.