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

Police are still searching for a mother who gave birth on the banks of a filthy river late last month – while a criminal psychologist shares his disturbing theory on the case.

A dog walker stumbled upon the placenta and umbilical cord on the banks of the Cooks River in Earlwood, South West Sydneyon May 27 at approximately 4:30 p.m.

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

Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said police face an uphill battle to find the pair.

“If they don’t leave a digital footprint, if there’s no DNA evidence, they’re virtually impossible to track,” Dr Watson-Munro told Daily Mail Australia.

A leading criminal psychologist has warned it could be ‘virtually impossible’ to find a missing mother who gave birth to a child next to a filthy river in Sydney (pictured, police at the scene)

Dr. Watson-Munro theorized that the mother had faced a host of issues that caused her to disappear with the child.

“The things that come to mind, known family pressures, religious pressures, she may have hid the pregnancy, it could be a matter of honor for the family,” he said.

‘Having said that, it’s a pretty extreme way to do it because you’re on the riverbank trying to maintain your anonymity.

“Generally speaking, these things happen when there is fear, shame, embarrassment or anger,” he said.

‘There can be anger directed at whoever the father is, but sometimes there is also financial pressure.

‘To me it appeals to someone who is not quite right in terms of emotions and cognition.’

Police were alerted to the stunning scene more than two weeks ago after a dog walker came across a placenta and umbilical cord next to the Cooks River in Earlwood

Neither the mother nor the boy have been located, despite extensive searches of the area and desperate pleas from police to come forward to ensure their safety.

The chances of police finding out what happened to the mother and child are getting smaller every day, says former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina.

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

The ex-Victoria Police 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.”

Leading Sydney obstetrician Dr Stephen Morris told Daily Mail Australia the mother could be at greater risk of developing an infection given the place of birth

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 risk 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 suggest the baby had been injured at the scene.