A newborn girl whose body was found at a recycling plant in 2021 has been farewelled today.
The baby, named baby Anahera by the community, was found at an Onehunga recycling facility exactly four years ago, on the evening of August 16, 2021.
In the years since, an “extensive investigation” has been ongoing to identify the mother, father or wider family — to no avail.
Police appealed to the public for information, released images of clothing found and combed through hours of CCTV footage and DNA databases, but her identity has never been uncovered.
An inquiry into Anahera’s death was carried out, with findings released last month by Coroner Alison Mills, in which a full forensic post-mortem was completed.
Today, on the fourth anniversary of the discovery of her body, baby Anahera was laid to rest with a community service and official burial.
Dayna Townsend, the vicar’s warden at St Peter’s Anglican Church who organised the funeral, told 1News that as a mother she had been moved by what had happened in 2021.
“I felt, I guess, two things. One, that this baby’s mum must have been really, really desperate and I didn’t have a sense of judgement for her at all. I just thought ‘man, this must have been pretty hard’ and things must have been pretty bad for it to turn out like this.
“Also it was this sense that this baby had been unwanted, and I just thought actually no baby is unwanted in our community.”
She said the community had rallied around the child, and alongside the vicar and city councillor Josephine Bartley the church had put its hand up to ensure the baby was given a proper burial.
“We as a community here, we care for this child’s mother and we care for this baby. And she is wanted by us,” she said.
“As a community at St Peter’s and as a community in Onehunga, we want to love and care for this baby’s remains. Because we couldn’t provide for her what she needed in life, but we can bury her as part of a family and a community that loves her,” she said.
She said groups within the community had offered resources free of charge, including Tipene Funerals, a headstone maker and a traditional Māori korowai, or cloak, worn at funerals to honour the deceased and their family.
“We know that she has a biological family out there, and a mum somewhere and a dad and we have nothing but compassion for whatever has happened to her biological family,” she said.
“We don’t want to disrespect her cultural background because we don’t know what that is and we don’t know what her culture is and we don’t know the culture of her family. We simply want to provide her with the love and support she deserves.”
Police reiterate pleas for information
The baby, named Anahera by the community in Onehunga, was laid to rest after four years. (Source: 1News)
In a police statement released last month following the coroner’s report, Detective Inspector Scott Beard said it was “not too late for the baby’s mother or someone within her immediate circle of family or friends to come forward”.
“We urge them and anyone else who might know what happened to do the right thing and talk to somebody, whether it’s police or someone who can notify us on their behalf.”
Anyone with information was urged to contact 105, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.