Cooks River, Earlwood: Tragic new theory on missing mum and baby – after umbilical cord was dumped on a riverbed

A criminal psychologist has raised serious concerns about a missing mother and her son, whom she gave birth to last week on the banks of a filthy river.

A dog walker came across the mother’s placenta and umbilical cord near the Cooks River in Earlwood, south-west Sydney, about 4.30pm last Monday.

Neither the mother nor the baby have been located, despite desperate pleas from investigators to come forward to ensure their safety.

The chances of police finding out what happened to the couple are getting smaller every day, says criminal psychologist Charlie Bezzina.

“The longer it takes for police to find the woman, the harder it will be to be sure she is alive and well, or tragically dead,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

A former one. Victoria Police detective has raised concerns about a missing mother who gave birth to a boy on the banks of a filthy river last week (photo, police on scene)

The former Victoria Police homicide detective said similar scenarios have occurred due to societal pressures, such as the birth of a baby out of wedlock.

However, he added that the circumstances leading up to the birth could not be known without finding the mother.

“You never know the history or the background of why a woman would go through childbirth and it seems like she kept this hidden,” Bezzina said.

‘By then throwing away the placenta and evidence that someone is having a baby, it’s clear she’s either going home or to a nearby location. But you can only guess.’

The main concern for police is that she may have gone “to another location” outside the search area and died there, Bezzina said.

He said an even worse scenario would be that the mother “might have killed the baby herself and disposed of the body.”

“As time goes on, it becomes a lot more difficult, and this may never be resolved.”

Mr Bezzina urged police to continue pushing for the mother to seek medical help, promising no criminal action would be taken against her.

“From a police perspective, you extend the hand of help, as opposed to the hand of prosecution,” he said.

“Even if something has happened and the child may have died, that doesn’t mean you’re in trouble.”

Placenta and umbilical cord near the Cooks River in Earlwood, southwest Sydney, about 4.30pm last Monday and have yet to find the mother

The former detective said the chances of discovering what happened to the mother and boy are getting smaller every day they can’t find her

It is believed that it has been ten days since the mother gave birth to the cubs, the same amount of time that a mother begins to show signs of a postpartum infection.

Leading Sydney obstetrician Dr Stephen Morris told Daily Mail Australia the mother could be at greater risk of developing an infection given where she was born.

Parts of the Cooks River are heavily polluted due to traffic congestion, litter, sewage, illegal dumping and industrial and domestic activities.

“Water births are usually just tap water, and you can give birth in the ocean because of the salt water, but a river is usually the worst place to give birth,” Dr. Morris said.

‘The uterus is a bit of an open wound that leaks out of the vagina, and so if you immerse yourself in that water it would be more dangerous.

‘So if she went swimming or immersed her body in the river, it increased the chance of becoming unwell with an infection in the womb.’

Dr. Morris explained that if the mother becomes infected, she may feel feverish, and without medical treatment this can progress to sepsis.

He added that the extensive police search of the area had turned up nothing to indicate the baby had been injured at the scene.