A newborn baby girl found dead at a recycling centre was dumped in a skip and had been brought in with the rubbish collection, police believe.
The baby is thought to have been secretly placed among rubbish in a skip before it was picked up by a lorry in the area of Ipswich, Suffolk.
The skip was one of several which were returned yesterday to the Sackers Yard Recycling Centre in Needham Market, Suffolk.
Horrified staff at the site discovered the body as they sorted through the waste for recycling, and immediately informed police.
Officers were called to the plant where the baby's dead body was found shortly after 3pm on Thursday.
Detectives say their current priority is concern for the mother of the baby and they are urging her to come forward and seek medical attention.
They are also trying to establish which skip the baby was in and where it had been used for waste collection before it was emptied at the depot.
DCI Eamonn Bridger, leading the investigation for Suffolk Police, said it was "impossible to tell at this stage" whether the girl was alive or dead when she was dumped.
He said: "We are in the process of arranging a Home Office post mortem. Until we have the results of that, we would not be able to say.
"The strongest view is that the poor baby was brought in from somewhere in the Ipswich area in a refuse collection, and has then been identified in the processing element of the plant.
"The current thinking is that the baby was born within the last 48 hours and disposed of.
"The vast majority of collections to arrive at the site yesterday were from Ipswich and the immediate surrounding area.
"It's a really busy plant and we are still working with them to try and understand the movement of waste."
The baby is understood to have been born within a 48-hour period before the discovery and appeared to have been carried to full term, or close to full term.
But police said it was too early to establish if she had been alive for any of that 48-hour period.
Sackers Yard has remained open and "very busy" throughout the lockdown period - but is now closed until further notice in light of the tragic discovery.
A spokesperson for Sackers Yard said this morning: "First and foremost we want to send our condolences out everyone involved in this tragic situation.
"Our recycling sorting facilities are so thorough that we believe the baby was found very quickly once it was at our Needham Market site.
"Our main priority now is to support our staff members who were involved in this incident and assist the police with their investigation.
"Therefore, the site will be closed tomorrow and until further notice."
DCI Bridger said plans were being finalised for a postmortem examination to be carried out at the earliest opportunity.
He praised staff at the site on Ipswich Road in Needham Market for their actions following the incident.
He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "It was a horrendous experience for them to have to go through, but fair play to them, they made the right calls."
And DCI Bridger reiterated that police are "absolutely desperate" to speak to the mother of the baby.
He said on-air: "The priority at the moment is her welfare and wellbeing. We can only imagine the emotional and physical distress the lady has been through.
"It is essential she gets the help from medical professionals she needs."
Those with any information that may aid Suffolk police in their inquiry should contact the force on 101, quoting CAD reference 213 of May 14 2020.
