A baby girl, named Elsa by hospital staff, who was found abandoned in a plastic bag in freezing temperatures, is set to be adopted by her foster carers.
Elsa was discovered by a dog walker in Newham in January 2024. Despite extensive efforts, no trace of her parents has been found. Further investigations revealed that Elsa has two older siblings who were also abandoned in the same area. Harry, now eight years old, was found in 2017, and Roman, six years old, was found in 2019. Both have since been adopted.
Elsa has been under the care of foster parents, and a judge has now ruled that she will remain with them, with adoption proceedings set to follow. Judge Carol Atkinson remarked, “Elsa is a beautiful little girl, a raucous bundle of excitement and laughter. I am pleased to have seen photos of her. I know from reports that she lights up the space around her.”
Police conducted extensive inquiries, including door-to-door checks of all properties in the area, and reviewed hours of CCTV footage. Despite narrowing the search to 400 homes, the biological parents of Elsa and her siblings have not been identified.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Basford described the investigation as one of the most unique the police team had ever worked on, involving hundreds of public consultations and DNA testing to trace potential family members. Despite these efforts, the biological parents remain unidentified, though Basford expressed the team’s commitment to ensuring the children’s safety and the welfare of their mother.
