A DNA probe on a skeleton of a baby found buried beneath floorboards by builders renovating a property is to be carried out after carbon dating confirmed the dead child could have been born over 100 years ago.
The tiny skeletal remains were found with a twine wound around its neck and had been wrapped in newspaper before being hidden underneath the floorboards.
Crime scene investigators swarmed to the flat on Fore Bondgate in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, on July 29 this year after workmen removed flooring to find the body.
An initial forensic analysis led scientists to believe that the corpse had laid undetected since the early 20th century due to a tiny fragment of the newspaper remaining readable.
But since July, detectives have continued to investigate the remains which they have not yet been able to confirm the sex of.
And now carbon dating has confirmed the skeletal remains date back to before 1955, aligning with initial assessments that they could be from around 1910.
The DNA sample is currently being processed by the National Missing Persons Database – and once results are available, detectives will begin coordinating DNA sampling with the family to determine if there are any potential matches.
The summertime discovery left the tight-knit community in shock with Bishop Auckland Councillor Sam Zair claiming he was “dumbfounded” by the discovery, which he described as “tragic”.
Police confirmed at the time that the baby was full term, and that the circumstances surrounding its death are likely to have been suspicious.
As the investigation was launched in July, police said they would be tracing historic records for the Victorian-era property to identify who lived there between 1900 and 1920.
Durham Police said the property dates to the Victorian period and at one stage housed a church-run mother-and-baby unit, although it is believed the baby was concealed before that time.
Det Ch Insp Mel Sutherland said: “The evidence suggests this has happened a very long time ago, which makes investigating the circumstances extremely difficult, but we still have a duty to that baby.
“My focus is on finding out who the baby is, what happened and how it came to be under the floorboards of that house.
“As soon as we are able to, I am determined that this little baby is given an appropriate and dignified funeral.”
