The police have appealed for baby Elsa’s missing mother after the newborn girl was abandoned in a shopping bag at a London crossroads in below-freezing temperatures last week.
Elsa was found by a dog walker who stumbled on the then-hour-old baby at Greenway and High Street South crossroads in Newham at around 9.30 pm on January 18.
The child was named after the main character from the Disney movie Frozen by hospital staff.
The Metropolitan Police today appealed to Elsa’s mother and gave a description of a woman they are looking for.
They believe the woman entered the Greenway from High Street South and left the Greenway, heading in the direction of Fabian Street.
Chief Superintendent Simon Crick also made a desperate appeal to baby Elsa’s mother, telling her: ‘Your daughter is safe and well, but we need to make sure that you are too.’
CS Simon Crick, lead for policing in Newham, said today: ‘A week on, I firstly want to thank media and the public who have shared our appeal up and down the country. I know how concerned everyone is for Baby Elsa and her mother’s welfare.
‘Since our first appeal, we’ve had 17 reports from the public sharing information, and I can assure people that every single one is assessed and progressed where that information is thought helpful. Baby Elsa is safe and well. I’m sure people will have seen recent reports that she has now left the hospital.
‘Our colleagues in Newham Council continue to make sure she’s well looked after and cared for.
‘My team are continuing their work. We’ve collected a considerable volume of CCTV footage. While we’re still examining it in detail, we have identified a woman we would like to speak to and a witness who may have seen her.
‘We believe the woman is black; she was wearing a large dark coat with a light-coloured scarf or hood around her neck and had a rucksack on her back. We believe this woman entered The Greenway from High Street South and left the Greenway heading in the direction of Fabian Street.’
He continued: ‘We’re also keen to identify a witness who we think could have seen this woman in the vicinity of The Greenway. He is believed to be male, wearing a dark-coloured hooded coat with a backpack; the coat or backpack has a reflective strip on the rear of it. He exited the Greenway at around 21:10hrs.
It’s such a shame a woman had to feel she needed to dump her baby. Something she will probably regret for the rest of her life.
It is obvious that the woman needs medical attention, particularly after giving birth, but she is probably too afraid to call the police for fear of being taken into custody.
This mother would have been feeling overwhelmed with the decision to have to do this and probably was not thinking clearly, and she must have felt so scared having to give birth on her own in God knows what surroundings. I hope that she’s okay.
There have to be designated areas where parents can leave their infants alone, maintain their anonymity, and seek medical attention on their own dime if necessary. Although the circumstances are unknown, this gift may have simply passed away.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 