The mother of baby Lily Grace, who was found dead on a popular beach in 2014, may finally be known after a mysterious woman was spotted leaving toys and trinkets on the girl’s grave.
The infant, who was given a name by her adoptive family shortly after she was found in the sand on Maroubra beach in Sydney, is buried at the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park and visited weekly by Filomena D’Alessandro and her husband Detective Sergeant Bill Green.
Lily Grace’s adoptive mother Ms D’Alessandro told the Sydney Morning Herald she began noticing small gifts being left on the little girl’s grave and had reason to believe it could be her biological mother.
Lily Grace is buried at the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park and visited weekly by her adoptive parents Filomena D’Alessandro and her husband Detective Sergeant Bill Green (pictured)
Children’s bracelets, teddy bears, toy cars, dolls, blankets and flowers have also convinced cemetery staff, mental health experts and the coroner from the case that it is her parent.
‘I don’t want to scare her off if it is her mother leaving them – but I do want her to know we aren’t here to judge,’ Ms D’Alessandro told the publication.
‘She may have walked away from this situation, but we know this is a tragedy you can never walk away from.’
Children’s bracelets, teddy bears, toy cars, dolls, blankets and flowers have also convinced cemetery staff, mental health experts and the coroner from the case that it is her parent (pictured is her funeral)
There is hope this generous benefactor visting the grave will be unmasked, with former Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon saying she wouldn’t be charged
A teddy and cushion made for the abandoned baby
There is hope this generous benefactor visiting the grave will be unmasked, with former Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon saying she wouldn’t be charged.
‘If it is her mother leaving these gifts I suppose someone could lie in wait for her – but she needs to know there is no evidence to suggest she committed a crime so she has nothing to fear in coming forward,’ he said.
‘The police weren’t looking to prosecute so she wouldn’t be arrested.’
Lily Grace’s decomposing body was found by two young boys in November 2014 buried beneath 30cm of sand at the southern end of Maroubra Beach.
When they discovered her body they began shouting ‘dead baby, dead baby’, before parents came to investigate and alerted police.
Lily Grace’s cause of death and identity has never been determined but forensic pathologist Dr Isabel Brouwer said routine tests did show the girl was born full-term and that her umbilical cord hadn’t been clamped – suggesting she wasn’t born in a hospital.
Lily Grace’s adoptive mother Ms D’Alessandro (right) said she began noticing small gifts being left on the little girl’s grave and had reason to believe it could be her biological mother
Coronial advocate Sergeant Bronwyn Lorenc said that given the baby’s birth weight and full-term status, it was more likely than not she was born alive
Coronial advocate Sergeant Bronwyn Lorenc said that given the baby’s birth weight and full-term status, it was more likely than not she was born alive.
‘As to how she came to be at the beach and whether she passed away at the beach or prior to is not available on the evidence,’ Sgt Lorenc told the inquest.
Her death prompted Mr Dillon to recommend the NSW government consider installing ‘baby boxes’ in hospitals to allow at-risk mothers to anonymously leave unwanted infants.
Her death prompted Mr Dillon to recommend the NSW government consider installing ‘baby boxes’ in hospitals to allow at-risk mothers to anonymously leave unwanted infants
He also recommended consideration of ‘safe haven’ laws, which decriminalise the abandonment of newborns
He said the purpose of the inquest was not to ‘attempt to shame anyone, especially the mother of Lily Grace’
He also recommended consideration of ‘safe haven’ laws, which decriminalise the abandonment of newborns.
‘With very few exceptions, the abandonment of a baby or a child is an act of extreme desperation,’ Mr Dillon said at the time.
‘While it is understandable that other members of society are horrified by such behaviour, our tendency to revile the desperate mothers is harsh, unjust, uncaring and ultimately counter-productive.’
He said the purpose of the inquest was not to ‘attempt to shame anyone, especially the mother of Lily Grace’.