Spanish police are investigating after a newborn baby's body was found inside a chest freezer in a storage room in Allariz, Ourense province, where it may have lain for more than 20 years. The discovery was made last Monday by a woman clearing the belongings of her recently deceased mother. She opened the freezer, in a storage room in the garage area of a block of flats, and found the newborn's body inside. She immediately reported the discovery to the police, and Spain's Civil Guard has launched a major investigation.

What forensic experts have established so far

Preliminary findings indicate the baby was born after 32 to 34 weeks of pregnancy and is thought to have breathed, so it was a newborn rather than a foetus. Initial estimates from forensic scientists suggest the baby could have died more than two decades ago. An autopsy by the Galician Institute of Legal Medicine will determine the cause of death and whether the baby was born alive. Investigators have taken statements from people close to the freezer's former owner and sent DNA samples to a Madrid laboratory to try to identify the baby's biological parents. The baby's identity and sex have not been disclosed.

Investigation under judicial secrecy

The investigation is under judicial secrecy ordered by the Ourense court in charge of the case. Investigators are not ruling out that the death occurred elsewhere in the province and the body was later moved to Allariz inside the freezer. Any prosecution could prove difficult: in Spain the statute of limitations for a crime against life is twenty years, so a death more than two decades ago may fall outside the time limit. Police have not named any suspect, and no arrests have been reported.

[Source: The Sun](https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/40946306/baby-body-found-freezer-probe/) | [Source: Euronews](https://app.ekkow.com/1491808071159775922)