Newborn girl found dead in rubbish bag in Warsage, Belgium; young couple detained

The discovery

A newborn girl was found dead on Sunday afternoon, 8 November, at the edge of a meadow in Warsage, a village in the municipality of Dalhem in Liège province. According to De Morgen, a 52-year-old walker had set out around 14:45 to check whether trees in the Queue du Bois area needed pruning. In dense undergrowth close to a remote pasture he noticed a grey-black rubbish bag, and inside it he found the body of the baby, with the umbilical cord still attached. He went straight to the nearest house, his sister's, and she called 112. Police, the mayor of Dalhem and firefighters arrived at the scene soon afterwards. VRT said the discovery was first reported by Sudinfo and later confirmed to the broadcaster.

Accounts of who made the find differ. Several outlets describe a walker, while NOS and VRT report that the finder was the son of a farmer. NOS cites Dalhem mayor Benoit Defauwes saying the man examined the bag with a piece of wood before he alerted the police, and that the newborn's head was visible inside it. One Dutch report also placed the meadow in Belgian Weerst, near Maastricht, but Belgian reports put the site in Warsage.

The arrests

Police have arrested two suspects, a young couple who live in the neighbourhood, a few dozen metres from where the body was found. Reports published on Tuesday, 10 November describe the arrests, and police have released no further details about the pair. Their role in the case has not been spelled out in the reports. Le Soir and 7sur7 both carried the story on the same day, describing the couple as residents of the area.

Investigation and first findings

The Liège prosecutor's office has opened a judicial investigation into the case. Investigators need to establish the circumstances of the death, which remain unknown, and how the newborn's body came to lie in the meadow. Firefighters searched the area with drones, and the forensic doctor's first findings suggest the body was left shortly before it was found on Sunday. NOS reports, citing Belgian media, that the baby was only a few days old based on those early findings. RTBF also reported that police and the mayor went to the site immediately after the discovery.

Open questions

The reports do not yet give a cause of death. Sources also do not explain how the arrested couple is connected to the newborn, or whether anyone else is involved. The prosecutor's inquiry is expected to answer these questions as the investigation continues.