Premier Roger Cook says baby body find in Alexander Heights drain ‘harrowing’ as police search for clues

Premier Roger Cook has described the discovery of the body of a baby in a Perth drain as harrowing as police continue to investigate how the infant came to be there. The shock discovery was made about 1pm on Monday by a pair of tradesmen cleaning drains in La Salle Road in Alexander Heights. It is understood that the infant was just days old and was found wrapped in a sheet. Police have not yet revealed how long they believe the baby had been left in the drain. The Premier expressed his dismay over the situation. “This is a horrifying, horrifying scenario that from the mother of this child through to the discovery of this child’s body by those drain workers, I cannot think of a more harrowing set of circumstances for people to be confronted,” he said. “Clearly here we are going to have to undertake an investigation to find out what happened. “But my heart goes out to everyone involved in this horrible, horrible series of events. “The mother of that child must be incredibly distressed, those workers that discovered the child’s body were confronted with the most distressing circumstances, other first responders having to facilitate the investigation, which is now taking place. “This goes to the heart of everyone’s sense of humanity, a small child whose life has passed under tragic, tragic circumstances.” A police spokesperson said investigations were ongoing. “The investigation into the Alexander Heights incident continued overnight and remains ongoing at this time,” they said. The manhole to the drain is on a grassed area next to the road and near bushland adjacent to Highview Park. Locals were seeing laying bouquets of flowers and plush toys on Tuesday morning. Two drainflow services trucks on La Salle Road — cordoned off with police tape on Monday afternoon — were also driven away on Tuesday morning. La Salle Road has reopened to the public with police no longer at the scene. Locals on Tuesday recounted how they became aware of the incident on Monday afternoon. “I was laying in bed for a while . . . and then all of the sudden I heard a helicopter,” one man, Cane, said. “When I came out, I saw a police car . . . I was shocked.” Cane described the tragedy as “terrible” and said the incident had rocked the entire community. “I’m trying to get better, I’m trying my hardest,” he said. “It does affect the community, (Alexander Heights) is a peaceful place . . . I love this place, this is the first time something like this has happened.” Cane said he hoped detectives could piece together what happened. Neighbour Craig Darcy said he saw tradies cleaning drains in the area before the infant was found. “(I saw two workers) standing over there chatting to cops, one of them was leaning against the fence,” he said on Monday. “It was hard to say if they were distressed or not. “The ambulances were here.” Mr Darcy said the incident was “pretty sad” considering he had young children. Officers are appealing to anyone with information to phone police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.