Search goes on for beach baby’s mum

Belle investigation is still open

MYSTERY still surrounds the identity of the mother of a baby girl whose partially buried body was found on a beach in Dublin before Christmas.

Gardai have been unable to make a breakthrough in tracing the whereabouts of the mother, despite concerns about her health and mental well-being.

It comes after the baby, who was later named Belle by investigating gardai, was discovered on a beach near Balbriggan in north Co Dublin just 10 days before Christmas.

She was named after Bell’s Beach, the strand where she was discovered by a local volunteer who had been taking part in a community effort to clean the beach.

A post-mortem carried out shortly after the discovery concluded the baby was stillborn.

While foul play was ruled out, a garda investigation into the discovery has remained open.

Gardai also took DNA samples at the time in the hope they would help identify baby Belle’s mother.

However, so far gardai have had no success in tracing the woman’s whereabouts.

Gardai told the Sunday Independent that the mother had yet to respond to a public appeal to come forward.

They previously said she was not in trouble but concern was expressed about her health.

It was hoped she would come forward for medical attention and support.

Sources feared she may have been disturbed by a passer-by on the beach shortly after delivering the baby and became too distressed to present herself to gardai.

In a public appeal, gardai encouraged friends, relatives and people who may have known the mother to come forward.

However, these efforts have also not brought gardai success in trying to help the woman.

“The investigation is still open but no further updates are available,” said a Garda spokeswoman.