A baby whose body was found in a shed at a suburban Christchurch boarding house may have been dead for up two years.
Detective Inspector Tom Fitzgerald said today the baby could have died anytime between three months ago and up to 24 months ago, and police do not yet know either its gender or ethnicity, let alone how it died or where.
It was not certain whether the baby was connected to any present or past tenants at the 14-room boarding house in suburban Waltham, but the current tenants were cooperating with police, he told The Press.
Police have appealed for the mother to come forward saying that the baby appeared to have been either newborn or extremely young when it died.
Someone would have knowledge of a late-term pregnant woman who did not now have a child, said Mr Fitzgerald.
Up to 12 people currently reside at the boarding house, but they had not seen a baby at the property, he said.
The body was taken away by hearse, in a washing basket.
