An unknown woman left a three-month-old baby in a launderette in the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht last Saturday, shows an investigation notice distributed by the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office on Thursday.
A woman – wearing a white jumper and black shorts – left a baby in a grey pram in the launderette in the Rue de la Clinique in Anderlecht on Saturday 29 July around 16:50. She entered the launderette with a pram and after a few moments took off in the direction of Rue Brogniez, without the pram.
"On Saturday, we received a call from a local resident. When we arrived at the scene, we indeed found that a very young child, barely three months old, had been left behind in the launderette. The baby was lying in a pram," Sarah Frederickx of the Brussels South police zone told VRT.
"We have since been able to analyse the cameras around the launderette and on them we see the woman entering the premises with the pram. Shortly afterwards, she takes off running," she added. "After reviewing the cameras, we also lost her trail."
Photo distributed by the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office.
The baby is a girl about three months old with a darker complexion, large dark eyes and curly hair. She was wearing a white jumper. The girl is healthy and currently remains in hospital.
"We are looking for someone who can tell us who the baby is and where to find the parents. We are not 100% sure yet that the woman who left the baby is her mother, but we do assume that she visits Cureghem regularly or lives there," said Frederickx. "So we are investigating that track further. We hope we can find the parents or other family members. If not, the girl will unfortunately have to be placed."
Anyone who recognises the woman or the baby or has any further information is asked to please contact the police at opsporingen@police.belgium.eu or via the free phone number 0800/30 300.
