Body of baby discovered wrapped in shawl in garden

Police have launched a murder investigation after the body of a baby girl was discovered wrapped in a shawl in a garden. The body was found by a woman near her front doorstep in a street in Bury, Greater Manchester, at 11am yesterday. Police believe the baby, who is possibly of Asian or mixed heritage, was less than a week old. They are concerned for the welfare of the mother and have appealed for her to come forward. A postmortem examination was due to be carried out later today. Detective Superintendent Sam Haworth, of Greater Manchester police's major incident team, said: "There are obvious health concerns with the mother and we want to make sure she is safe. We also need to know why the baby was left there. There are a number of assumptions we could make, but we need to know the truth. "We are checking CCTV in the area to try to find out who left the baby, but I would ask people to think carefully about your friends and family. If you know of any women or girls who were pregnant and due to give birth in the last week and had been acting strangely, or if the news of the baby being found dead is seriously affecting someone you know, then please call us. A postmortem is under way which will hopefully confirm the cause of death of the baby girl." Haworth said the mother needed to come forward for her "mental health". Debbie Shaw, who lives a few doors away from the scene, spoke of her disbelief at the discovery. "I can't explain how it made me feel yesterday, I'm still in shock," she said. "It's mortified me. I just can't understand what had gone through this lady's head, just to leave this baby."