The heartbreaking discovery was made by a dog walker at Spen Brook in Kirkham, Lancashire on October 1, 2011 – where the newborn was found wrapped in a Union Jack bath towel
The tragic case of a baby boy whose body was found in a stream nearly 14 years ago is one step closer to being solved after police were able to indentify his father in a major DNA breakthrough.
Detectives today said new DNA technology led them to the man who was unaware he had fathered a baby. He is now helping officers trace the mum, whose identity remains unknown. Police said the father, who is originally from Manchester, met the baby’s mother while in his 20s and living in Blackpool at the time – and that the baby is thought to have been born after the two had a casual fling.
The heartbreaking discovery was made by a dog walker at Spen Brook in Kirkham, Lancashire on October 1, 2011, where the newborn was found wrapped in a Union Jack bath towel. Despite multiple police appeals, including a feature on BBC1’s Crimewatch and This Morning, the parents could not be traced.
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Detective Chief Inspector Bryony Midgley, who leads a cold case team at Lancashire Police, said as she launched a fresh appeal today: “The dad has now been traced through familial DNA. Through breakthroughs in DNA technology, we have been able to confirm that he is dad.”
She added: ‘”A thorough investigation was carried out but unfortunately his parents were never identified. We are now re-investigating his death.
“This is such a sad case and it had a huge impact on the community here in Kirkham. A major part of our investigation is trying to find out who the baby’s boy’s mum is.
“We ask for anyone who has any information which could help us find the mum, however small that piece of information might be, to come forward and speak to us. We believe that somebody knows who she is and what happened back in 2011.
“You might not have wanted to come forward back then, but with the passage of time, it will feel right to do so. Now, our specially trained officers will be there to support you.
“Thanks to advances in DNA technology, the dad who lived in Blackpool has been assisting with this investigation, but we have still, so far been unable to identify baby’s mum. These scientific developments should also help us to confirm who his mum is.”
Detectives working on the case in 2011 thought the child was left in the stream due to its low water levels and thick undergrowth, which would have prevented it from floating from upstream. Near the child’s body was a Union Jack towel, a green towel with a “Renaissance” label, a blue and white fleece, and a shoe box from Evans – which officers said may have originally been holding the body.
Speaking of the items found in 2011, Det Supt Neil Esseen of Lancashire Police said: “On their own these items may seem fairly insignificant, however, if there is anybody out there who can link these items together then I would urge them to come forward and speak with us.
“Our main priority is to trace the mother of the baby boy and I hope that the Crimewatch appeal will provide us with some crucial leads. Maybe even the mother of the baby herself, or even the father or other close family members, will have seen the appeal and we would urge them to come forward so that we can offer them the support they may need.”
The baby was later buried in a heartbreaking ceremony following donations from local businesses. A small blue coffin was carried into St Michael’s Church, Kirkham in June 2012, where readings were carried out by three local primary school head teachers and a senior detective.
In 2013 Paula Gemmell, manager of Pink Tree Parties in Kirkham, told the Blackpool Gazette: “It is one of the tragedies that is never going to go away in the memories of the locals, and it’s never going to be put right unless we find the mother and help her.”
