According to authorities, the identification of a newborn baby boy found dead in a canal more than a year ago is still unclear.
On May 20, 2021, full-time caretaker Lee Coles was walking through Rough Wood country park in Walsall when he discovered the nude kid ‘chucked like garbage’ in the Wyrley and Essington Canal.
A murder investigation was opened by West Midlands Police, and Crimestoppers offered a £5,000 reward for information.
In February of this year, nine months after the corpse was discovered, detectives obtained DNA from the youngster and forensically examined a card and flowers left at the site.
The mother, on the other hand, has never been recognized, therefore the boy’s identity has remained a mystery for more than a year.
The infant was thought to have been born full-term and died during or shortly after birth.
Officers are’still no farther forward in understanding what happened,’ but ‘want to try and establish the truth,’ according to Detective Inspector Michelle Thurgood, who has encouraged anybody with knowledge to come forward.
‘This scenario is very tragic,’ she remarked. We’ve been working nonstop to figure out what happened to this little guy. We’ve been unable to obtain answers for him to yet, which is unfortunate.
‘We’ll always act on any fresh information we get, and we’ve issued a new witness appeal in the area.’
‘My sympathies are with everyone involved, as well as the rest of the community, who I know were terribly affected by this tragic finding.’
I’d want to express my gratitude to everyone who has already supplied us with information and assure them that all avenues of inquiry have been pursued.’
The body of the newborn is being cared for by the Black Country coroner.
If his family does not come forward, authorities said they will plan a’sensitive’ burial service for him.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact us via live chat on our website or by calling 101 and referencing log number 1963 from the 20th of May 2021.