Madrid: Woman arrested after baby found decapitated and dismembered in plastic bags after being dumped in bin

WARNING: GRAPHIC DETAILS

A woman has been arrested after the decapitated and dismembered body of a newborn was found at a recycling plant in Spain.

It comes seven months after a worker at the plant discovered the baby’s remains stuffed into several plastic bags.

The case was only made public last week when police in Madrid put out a call for the mother to come forward.

It is believed the body parts were thrown out in the Puente de Vallecas neighbourhood in December before the worker at the Loeches made the grisly discovery.

Forensic tests have confirmed the baby was a girl and was five days old when she died.

She had been decapitated with a knife before her remains were put in plastic garbage bags and thrown out.

Sniffer dogs that specialise in detecting biological remains were called in to help identify the remains that were mixed in with household rubbish.

Police were then able to trace where they originated from and when they were thrown out.

The woman, an immigrant from Ecuador, was taken into custody on Tuesday and police have launched a search of her home. Local media have not identified the woman but say she is married with children.

When they appealed for public help to find the mother, police officers from Operation Natal described her as being around 40 and pregnant in the last months of the year.

“From the investigations carried out so far, it has been possible to determine that the remains would correspond to a female baby and that she was born alive,” a police statement released before the arrest read.

“There are indications that would point to her death being of a violent nature.

“We are seeking the public’s help in clarifying this criminal act and asking anyone who could have any information of interest to contact us.”