Contractors renovating a flat above a pizza shop in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, discovered the remains under floorboards in July 2024. Durham Police were contacted by the building firm about the skeleton. Police were called to the house when the remains were found and concluded that the baby had been 'undisturbed for a number of years'. An inquest was opened on Tuesday in Crook, County Durham.
Carbon dating suggested the baby may have lived between 1726 and 1812. A forensic anthropologist determined the baby was a boy and full-term, but it was not possible to prove whether he was stillborn. DNA analysis confirmed that the baby was male.
Radio-carbon dating determined the baby was born before the first Manhattan Project atomic bomb test in New Mexico in 1945. After nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s, it is possible to determine if someone was born in the 'nuclear age' due to higher carbon-14 levels. The property where the baby was found was built in the Victorian era.
The baby was found with knotted twine around his neck and partially wrapped in a copy of The Umpire newspaper dated June 19, 1910. The twine was looped three times around the boy's neck. The newspaper was the 19 June 1910 edition of the Umpire, a popular Sunday newspaper founded in Manchester in 1884. A contractor described finding a ball of newspaper, seeing a ribcage, and pulling the paper off to reveal a little skull, which traumatized him.
The coroner's officer Stephanie Clough told the inquest that the unknown baby was found deceased on 29 July 2024. Stephanie Clough said police were contacted as a contractor found a small skeleton of a baby under the floorboards, with thin twine-like material wrapped around its neck. The senior coroner Jeremy Chipperfield formally released the remains of the baby so that a funeral could take place. The unidentified child was named 'Baby Auckland' for the inquest proceedings.
After a forensic postmortem examination by Dr Louise Mulcahy and Dr Micol Zuppello, the cause of death was given as unascertained. Police have been unable to determine the cause of death. Two years on, the inquest heard that a funeral would take place but the mystery of what happened remained.
Carbon dating and DNA investigations have been undertaken by Durham constabulary, but the remains have been unable to be identified. The identity of the baby's parents or guardians is also unknown.
Because of the newspaper, police said they would try to trace records for the property to find who lived there between 1900 and 1920. The building where the remains were found in the Fore Bondgate area at one stage housed a church-run mother and baby unit. Police are focused on finding out who the baby is, what happened, and how it came to be under the floorboards.
A funeral will be held later this month for the baby in Bishop Auckland after police and council arranged a proper burial. Two years on, the inquest heard that a funeral would take place but the mystery of what happened remained. Police are determined that the baby is given an appropriate and dignified funeral as soon as possible.
Key unknowns persist in this case, including what caused the baby's death and who the baby's parents or guardians were. Additionally, why the baby was wrapped in a 1910 newspaper when carbon dating suggests he lived between 1726 and 1812 remains a mystery, as does how the baby ended up under the floorboards of the Victorian property.
The evidence suggests it happened a long time ago, making investigation difficult, but police have a duty to the baby. It is a challenging investigation involving lots of research and reliance on science, and it is the duty of police to be the voice of the child.