Headless body found on Spanish beach was a baby girl aged less than six months

The child whose decomposed headless body was found on a Costa beach earlier this week was a baby girl aged less than six months when she died, it emerged today.

Initial reports put the youngster’s age at between two to three years following the grim discovery at the beach in the Costa Dorada resort of Roda de Bera on Tuesday.

But the first autopsy results are said to point to her being far younger than previously thought.

As well as confirming her gender, forensic experts have also concluded her body was in the water between a fortnight and two months, according to local reports.

The fact the baby’s upper torso was missing along with her head will make it more difficult to ascertain whether she died accidentally or as the result of a crime.

But further tests are now taking place to try to establish a probable cause of death and determine her ethnic origin.

Roda de Bera mayor Pere Virgili said after Tuesday morning’s grim discovery the child could have been on a migrant boat that sank in the Mediterranean.

In a dramatic reference to the massive number of migrants who have died or disappeared and are feared dead while trying to make the dangerous crossing to Europe on vessels including rickety and overcrowded wooden boats, he said.

‘The hypothesis that this baby’s body is another one from this Mare Mortum off our beaches is on the table.’

He said the clothes the baby had on, which included a jacket, didn’t point to her drowning in a typical beach accident.

A council cleaner made the grim find on Tuesday morning and alerted his bosses who called police.

Civil Guard officers cordoned off the area and moved locals and holidaymakers on to other areas of the sand before an investigating judge authorised the removal of the body.

It subsequently emerged the decomposed body had washed up on the beach the previous day, but had been ignored by passers-by who mistook it for a doll.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard said on Tuesday: ‘All we can confirm at the moment is that the body of a baby has been found at Roda de Bera beach in the province of Tarragona.

‘The alarm was raised at 8.50am this morning.

‘The matter is still under investigation.’

A court spokesman said the same day, confirming the court probe was being led by a judge in the nearby town of El Vendrell: ‘A court of instruction, Court of Instruction number 7 in El Vendrell which is acting as a duty court, has today authorised the removal of a body found on a beach in Roda de Bera.

‘The judge has opened the corresponding inquiry and is awaiting receipt of the corresponding forensic and police reports.

The remains of the youngster were found on the Costa Dorada resort of Roda de Berà in the east coast province of Tarragona

‘We do not have any extra information we can make public at this moment in time.’

Today, the Civil Guard confirmed it had nothing new to say and was not making any more official statements on the matter for the time being.

Roda de Bera is a 25-minute drive north of the Spanish east coast city of Tarragona. Barcelona is just over an hour’s drive north.

The town, well-known thanks to its Roman arch, was mainly dedicated exclusively to agriculture until the second half of the 20th century when it became an important tourist spot on the Costa Dorada.