Funeral for tragic baby girl found at waste site as community rallies round

The body of the newborn baby was found in May last year by workers at the Associated Waste Management Depot, in Valley Road, Shipley. The baby was later given the name Katherine.

Over the last 12 months detectives have worked tirelessly to try to find the mother but so far have been unable to trace her.

Yesterday, at a hearing in Bradford, coroner Peter Straker released the baby girl’s body to allow a funeral to take place.

The hearing was told that members of the local community and businesses had raised money to ensure that the baby had a dignified resting place.

A post-mortem examination failed to determine how the baby died, and it is feared the cause of her death may never be established.

Det Supt Sukhbir Singh of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, who is leading the inquiry into the baby’s death, told yesterday’s hearing that detectives believed the baby had not been delivered in a hospital.

He said that the investigation was continuing and said detectives had a DNA profile of the baby.

Earlier police said they had sent out 37,000 letters appealing for information, stressing their concern for the mother following the death of her child.