Short lives evoke a city's sympathy

Hastings police are going door to door, trying to get to the bottom of what they describe as two serious crime investigations.

They are appealing for information through the media and intensively examining forensic evidence. They have searched the two crime scenes for clues.

But the effort that is going into solving these mysteries is not to find hardened criminals. Police are working long hours to find two women, probably young and possibly seriously ill, who felt so desperate that they abandoned their newly born babies.

The babies' bodies were found within weeks of each other - two discoveries that have rocked Hastings.

In the first week of January a baby police named Moses, who was less than two days old, was found dumped. His body, placed beneath a grapevine at the back corner of a Hastings church garden, was found by a tenant living on the property who had gone to pick fruit.

To honour the infant, members of the church congregation later planted a rose next to the patch of ground where Moses had been discovered. The ceremony was attended by neighbours and soft toys, flowers and cards started piling up at the gate of the property.

One young mother fought back tears as she placed a teddybear and flowers at the site, saying "it is just so close to home" and asked herself why she did not see anything or if she could have done anything.

Then came his funeral. He was placed in a tiny white coffin, with flowers on top, by a Hastings funeral director who offered his services at no charge. Almost 100 people - complete strangers - stood in the hot sun for his farewell.

"We are the baby's family now," said one of the women who attended.

Then, last Monday at 1.30pm it happened again. Plumber Ashley Wood was fixing a blocked drain in the Hastings suburb of Raureka and had to check inside a council sewer manhole at the end of a leafy cul-de-sac lined with state houses. What he saw horrified him.

"My first thoughts were, 'Oh no, it can't be another baby'," he said.

Neighbours watched as he plucked the tiny body from the drain and placed it in a bucket to be taken to the police station.

Wood said afterwards, he kept wondering, "What sort of situation a woman would be in to flush a baby down the toilet? She must be in absolute distress".

Police learned through a post-mortem examination that baby Aaron, named after Moses' brother in the Bible, was stillborn at about 25 weeks.

Like Moses, found on the other side of town, Aaron was of Polynesian ethnicity and had been left within days of being born. 

Police say the inquiries are not connected but Detective Senior Sergeant Sam Aberahama says the two cases happening so close together gives a sense of urgency to the investigations.

The priorities are different from a conventional crime investigation. Doctors say it is likely that both mothers are young, from poor backgrounds and had concealed their pregnancies from their families.

The outcomes in such cases vary greatly, says Aberahama, depending on the situation. Charges with sentences of up to two years jail can be laid.

But there are many mitigating circumstances. The mothers may have been sexually violated, or could be mentally unwell, or could just be terrified of their families finding out.

Previously working in Auckland's Otara and Otahuhu, Aberahama says he has dealt with several similar cases in the past.

In some cases the mother is never found. Among mothers who are found, some seem indifferent to what has occurred, others seem highly distressed and many are extremely relieved to have been found.

Some have been able to hide their pregnancy because of their physical size.

In the Hastings cases, Aberahama says what has been remarkable is the community response.

"It has touched the hearts of a lot of people.

"The purpose of the babies being named was to show some sort of dignity to these little souls."

But the names also gave the community a sense of ownership, as was reflected by the numbers who turned out for Moses' funeral.

The trail for baby Moses' mother has gone cold, but police say it is likely they will solve the mystery surrounding baby Aaron, as it seems he could have been flushed down the toilet only from one of 12 nearby homes.

They believe they could know who his mother is within days and have 15 police officers trying to find her.

And when they do, they say, she will probably be in desperate need of medical attention.

Paediatrician Dr Russell Wills from Hawkes Bay Hospital says she could be suffering from blood loss and potentially fatal infection. She could also be suffering from postnatal depression, which is more common in cases of concealed pregnancies."You feel for the baby, but you feel for the mother as well."

Wills says while it is rare, he has seen several teenage mothers who have concealed their pregnancies and some who have not even known they are pregnant.

As a result some became "desperately unwell" and suffered from long-term mental health problems.

It seems likely that neither Aaron nor Moses' mother has seen a doctor or midwife, Wills says. (It is a healthcare priority in the Hawkes Bay, as in other parts of New Zealand, to get health workers going inside homes so they are aware of such cases and can help the young women.)

But, he says, while young mothers may conceal their pregnancies for fear of their families finding out, most families rally around once they know.

"They are still so unusual and so distressing. The priority is finding the women and getting them help."