unsolved-murders.co.uk
Unsolved Murders
Tags

Callum

Age: Newly Born

Sex: male

Date: 14 Mar 1998

Place: Callands, Warrington

The body of a newly born male child was found in a black plastic bin-bag in woodland in Callands near to Gulliver's World theme park at 11am on 14 March 1998.

He had been strangled by something pulled round his neck and beaten about the head.

The child had weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was thought to have been about an hour old.

His umbilical cord had been cut in a crude way.

The body was found in Callands and was named Callum by local people although the child had no known name and its mother was never identified.

During an investigation in to the child's murder the police tested nearly 500 women for a DNA match with the child including many schoolgirls.

The police said that they thought that the mother was probably a teenager.

It was also noted that during the investigation that a woman claiming to be the child's mother called the police several times, sounding 'upset and emotional' but she was never traced and her identity is still unknown.

Another line of enquiry in the investigation was the siting of a girl in a beige coat that was seen near the place where the child was found who seemed to be distressed, but she was never identified or traced.

A headstone was later bought for the child's grave following its burial which was inscribed, 'Baby Callum, precious child of God - laid to rest July 27 1998. With love, from the people of Warrington'. The funeral was attended by more than 150 people.

On 18 October 2023 it was reported that two people were arrested in relation to the murder.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.