Over 7 years, 3 babies were abandoned in parks. We've just learned they're siblings.

On a Sunday morning in September 2017, a baby boy was found abandoned in an east London park in Plaistow. He had been carefully wrapped in a white blanket, and was quickly taken to hospital and given medical care. Medical staff named him Harry.

Harry was given the all-clear health-wise, though officers said they were concerned for the welfare of the baby's mother, who had not come forward or been found.

Watch: The case of the abandoned London babies explained. Post continues below.

"If you see this appeal, please come forward and let us know you are safe. I know you must be feeling very frightened and alone to have done what you did but please make contact with us or your local hospital or GP surgery so they can check you are okay and offer you medical care and support," said Detective Inspector Ian Barker at a media conference.

For years, the case remained cold, police no closer to locating the baby's mother. Harry was subsequently adopted and given a different name.

Then in 2019, another baby was found abandoned.

The baby girl was in a shopping bag in a park in East Ham, a five-minute drive away from where baby Harry had been found two years earlier.

The newborn was discovered by a man walking his dog at night, after he had heard her crying in a play area in the park. It was late at night and freezing cold, the infant wrapped in a white towel. Hospital staff called the baby girl Roman, after the road where she was found.

Roman was also adopted out and given a different name.

In 2024, history repeated again. Another baby was found in an east London park.

Baby Harry was found abandoned in a park in 2017. An image of him at three months. Image: Metropolitan Police.

The baby girl was found in a Newham park at night this January, when temperatures had dropped to -5^oC.

Like baby Rowan, this newborn was found in a shopping bag and wrapped in a white towel. This abandoned baby was also found by a dog walker. 

The baby was given the name Elsa.

Family court documents stated Elsa still had her umbilical cord, and doctors estimate she had been born only an hour before being left in the park. Although she was extremely cold when found, Elsa was crying and responsive. She is now doing well, and in the foster care system, yet to be adopted out. Her name has also been changed to maintain her anonymity.

London's Metropolitan Police are yet to release an image of baby Elsa publicly.

This week, it's been revealed that Elsa, Harry and Rowan are all related. In fact, DNA testing shows that the three children are full siblings.

Police already knew that they were siblings, but in Family Court this week, a judge decided that reporting restrictions – which limit what can be said about children who are victims of crimes – could be lifted. This allowed the media to publish the details of this case.

The parents of all three children have yet to be identified, and Metropolitan police have reiterated their call for anyone with information to come forward.

Baby Rowan was found in a park in 2019. Image: Metropolitan Police.

"The abandonment of a baby in this country is a very, very unusual event and there are years where there are no children abandoned, and because of that, it is the story of the abandoning of a child that is of public interest," the judge said in court.

The judge added that the fact the three babies are full siblings was, for the same reason, "of enormous interest" in "our current society".

In previous high-profile cases of an abandoned baby in Hackney in 2020 and another in Birmingham in 2021, the mothers were eventually found several months later.

The court was also told there are plans for the siblings to have contact as they grow up. There remains a focus on the mother's wellbeing.

Police have now asked for the public's help in identifying a woman seen shortly before Elsa was found. The woman, who police believe holds crucial information about Elsa's background, was wearing a "large dark coat with a light coloured scarf or hood around her neck and had a rucksack on her back".

"We have worked 24/7 in each of these three cases to identify the parents, so far without success," Newham Detective Inspector Jamie Humm said in a media conference.

"We have also had to be mindful of the sensitivities that exist now all of the children are being cared for. Their welfare, including their privacy, is paramount."

Feature Image: Metropolitan Police.