The body of a baby was found by children playing at the southern edge of Maroubra beach in Sydney on Sunday morning.
The baby’s body was found in the sand around 10am by two boys, aged six and seven, who called for their father. The boys — who are reportedly under-six Nippers — who made the grisly discovery while digging in the sand. They are now undergoing counselling.
Police have believe the body was deliberately buried under about 30cm of sand, but they have been unable to determine the age or sex of the baby.
“It’s a very small infant child. The sex and age of the child are unable to be determined at this point due to the decomposition,” Inspector Andrew Holland told reporters.
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Police have grave concerns for the baby’s mother, who has yet to be identified.
“Police are concerned about the welfare of the mother involved and hope she sought medical assistance,” Inspector Holland said. “We hope…she feels confident enough to contact Eastern Beaches detectives”.
Police are contacting local hospitals to track down details of any newborn baby that might be missing or unaccounted for. “We’re making some inquiries through births, deaths and marriages to determine where we can find the parents of this child,” said Inspector Holland.
“The under six Nippers were digging in the sand and they found it,” one surf lifesaver told the Daily Mail.
“It’s just awful. It will have traumatised the poor the kids for life, no matter how much counselling they get.”
Children digging in the sand have discovered the body of a baby on Maroubra Beach @9NewsSyd pic.twitter.com/rgn9Anukw5
— Renae Henry (@renaehenry9) November 30, 2014