The key facts
- The body of an infant was found in a freezer in the garage of a house in Allariz, Spain
- Preliminarily, the child was born at 32–34 weeks and may have been born alive
- Due to the 20-year statute of limitations, it may be impossible to hold those responsible accountable
A discovery while sorting through an inheritance
In the Spanish town of Allariz, a woman sorting through the belongings of her deceased mother opened an old freezer in the storage room of a garage on the ground floor of a residential building and found the remains of a newborn inside. According to preliminary data, the child died more than 20 years ago. This was reported by the local newspaper La Región, which is cited by Life.ru.
What the experts established
The specialists who arrived determined that the child was born at approximately 32–34 weeks of pregnancy, and preliminary findings indicate that the infant may have been born alive. Investigators are trying to find out who the child belonged to and under what circumstances it died: police have questioned several acquaintances of the family, and DNA samples have been sent to a laboratory in Madrid — the genetic testing should help identify the biological parents.
Where the freezer came from and what happens next
Law enforcement is also establishing the origin of the freezer itself: according to preliminary information, it may have been transported from the city of Ourense along with its contents, so it cannot be ruled out that the child died in an entirely different place and the remains were moved there later. The case materials have been handed over to the court; experts will have to determine whether the death was natural or resulted from violence or a lack of necessary care after birth.
The statute of limitations problem
Even if the investigation finds signs of a crime, bringing those responsible to justice may prove impossible: according to Spanish media cited by Life.ru, the statute of limitations for such cases is 20 years, and the child presumably died in the early 2000s. Thus, the key questions of the investigation — the child's identity and the place of death — may be established only after the fact, with no prospect of criminal prosecution.
