Baby in the attic
THE skeletal remains found in a building undergoing renovation at Portstewart were that of a NEWBORN baby, a senior detective has confirmed.
A postmortem examination of the tiny skeleton, discovered wrapped in a 1930s newspaper, has proved inconclusive and as yet investigators still do not know if the child was male or female.
Police sealed off the scene at 29 The Promenade last Friday afternoon after workmen renovating flats above the disused Heathron Diner had dislodged the remains.
Detective Inspector, Sean Fitzpatrick, told The Coleraine Times yesterday: "The skeleton was found wrapped in a newspaper dated June 1935.
"The baby was newborn and was buried under floorboards in the attic.
"When workmen were pulling the ceiling down the baby was dislodged."
Police hope to tap into local knowledge to solve the mystery of the child's identity and how it came to be there.
"We have a fair idea about who lived there but we want to hear from anyone who can tell us who lived at 29 The Promenade in June 1935.
"This is a terrible set of circumstances."
Det Insp Fitzpatrick said that it was not uncommon in the 1930s for a child, particularly with a deformity, to be killed and perhaps hidden.
Police are expected to take advice on how to proceed in terms of registering both the baby's birth and death.
"The problem there is that we do not know the date of either the baby's birth or death", said Det Insp Fitzpatrick. "Certainly we will have to organise a funeral in the future."
A police team with sniffer dogs were continuing their investigation at the flats yesterday afternoon.
Police will also await further tests by the coroner.
SDLP assembly member John Dallat, said the local community was shocked by the discovery.
"We don't know what tragedy lies behind this, but the fact that it possibly dates back more than 60 years does not diminish the sadness of this," he said.
"Who knows what sad story might lie behind the discovery.
"Whatever the sad circumstances, it would be appropriate now that the child receives the Christian burial it did not receive after its death and is allowed to rest in peace."
A PSNI spokesman said: "Police are investigating the discovery of what are suspected to be human remains in the Portstewart area."
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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