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Body of newborn baby found in Heywood, Greater Manchester | Body of newborn baby found in Heywood, Greater Manchester |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Police are investigating after the body of a newborn baby was found in a field in Greater Manchester. | |
Officers were called to the popular dog-walking spot in Heywood, near Rochdale, just after 7am on Wednesday. A woman escorted by a police officer was later seen carrying a Moses basket to the scene, reportedly to remove the baby’s body in a dignified way. | |
A spokesman for Greater Manchester police said they were treating the death as suspicious, as forensics officers and police dogs examined the scene. | |
The force was unable to confirm whether the baby was a boy or a girl. No arrests had been made by 3.30pm on Wednesday. | |
The field where the body was found is in a tract of woodland with the river Roch running through it. Sarah Wilkin, a Heywood resident, said she saw two ambulances, a helicopter, the fire brigade and a police car at the site, which is near a busy sports village and retail park. | |
“It’s devastating because it’s a baby. Obviously it’s awful when it’s an adult, but it seems worse when it’s a baby. Everyone is shocked,” she told the Manchester Evening News. | |
Millie Crosdale and Jess Hawkins, both 18, laid a bouquet of flowers at the police cordon. Crosdale said: “It is so close to home – you don’t expect it to happen here. It is heartbreaking, really. All you can do is come and pay your respects.” | |
Hawkins added: “This is where we all come down in the summer and it’s nice; when it’s snowing you bring your kids down with the sleds. You wouldn’t think something like that would happen here.” | |
A Greater Manchester police spokesman said: “At around 7.10am on Wednesday 4 April 2018, police were called to a field near George Street in Heywood, to reports that the body of a baby had been found. Officers attended and discovered the body of what is believed to be a newborn baby.” | |
A spokesman for the North West ambulance service confirmed they were called to the scene at 7.10am. An ambulance and a rapid response vehicle were sent, but no one was taken to hospital. | |
Greater Manchester | Greater Manchester |
news | news |
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