Mystery mourner may bemum
America’s first lady a prisoner, says Macron
SYDNEY When the decomposed remains of a baby were found by children in the sand at Sydney’s Maroubra Beach in 2014, no-one knew a thing about how she came to be there or the identity of her mother.
But now, four years on from that shocking find, the mother of the unidentified baby known as Lily Grace may be secretly visiting her dead daughter’s grave in Malabar.
The family who adopted the dead baby and gave her a name and a funeral, the staff at the cemetery where she is buried, local maternal mental health experts and the former coroner in the case have reason to believe Lily Grace’s mother may be the mysterious benefactor leaving graveside gifts for the baby girl.
Every few days, someone places presents on the stone memorial to the little girl, whose cause of death remains unknown. Sometimes they are children’s bracelets and teddy bears, and at other times, toy cars and dolls. Blankets and flowers have also been left at the gravesite in the Garden of Innocence.
Maroubra locals Filomena D’Alessandro and her husband, Detective Sergeant Bill Green, who adopted the dead girl so she could be buried, visit the grave at Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park weekly. In the past few months, they started noticing the trinkets – from stuffed toys to fairy wands – accumulating there.
‘‘I don’t want to scare her off if it is her mother leaving them, but I do want her to know we aren’t here to judge,’’ said D’Alessandro. ‘‘She may have walked away from this situation, but we know this is a tragedy you can never walk away from.’’
Hugh Dillon, the coroner who handled the inquest into the death of the unidentified baby, has FAIRFAX renewed calls for ‘‘safe haven’’ laws for families – especially women – wanting to surrender children without risk of prosecution by authorities.
Graham Boyd, chief executive of the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, which runs the memorial park, was today hosting the fourth Baby Lily Grace Awareness Day. It is a 6am service to honour children who die in mysterious circumstances. Fairfax
Melania Trump is a fun woman who hides a strong personality and lives in the White House as a virtual prisoner of the Secret Service, according to Brigitte Macron.
The wife of the French president praised the 48-year-old US first lady after bonding with her during a three-day state visit to Washington. The repeated handholding and hugging between their husbands contrasted with the habitual froideur that Melania Trump displayed during the ceremonies involving the two couples.
Trump’s image as a stern, unsmiling spouse was false, Macron, 65, said.
‘‘On the contrary – she is really fun. We have the same sense of humour. We laugh a lot together. Everything is interpreted, overinterpreted. She’s someone who has a strong personality but she makes an effort to hide it.’’
She expressed sympathy for what she depicted as Trump’s restricted life.
‘‘She is much more constrained than me. Melania can’t do anything. The security is terrible. She can’t even open a window at the White House,
PARIS
AP because immediately the security services call and say, ‘Close it’. She can’t put a foot outside.’’
Macron, who is 25 years older than her husband, Emmanuel, spoke of her life after nearly a year at the Elysee Palace.
She lamented the ‘‘lack of time off, of quiet moments when you can be completely calm. That’s the most wearing side’’.
‘‘I don’t feel like a first lady, even though I’m aware of my responsibilities,’’ she said. ‘‘I am of a certain age. I have nothing to prove. You don’t change at my age.’’ The Times