- .Charlotte Bevan carried daughter Zaani Tiana out of hospital on Tuesday
- .CCTV showed her walking out of Bristol Maternity Hospital unchallenged
- .New mother was in her slippers and had no coat - child was in a blanket
- .Police found body of a woman in Avon Gorge last night but not a baby
- .Walker found items belonging to Miss Bevan close to the Clifton bridge
- .Miss Bevan may have stopped medication for depression to breastfeed
- .Boyfriend Pascal Malbrouck said that she also suffered from schizophrenia
- .Search teams remain in the gorge and say hunt is 'concentrated' on area
Police are desperately searching for a missing newborn baby girl today after a woman feared to be a missing mother who fled a labour ward was found dead in a gorge last night.
Charlotte Bevan, 30, walked out of the Bristol Maternity Hospital wearing thin hospital slippers and no coat, with her daughter wrapped in just a blanket at 9pm on Tuesday.
CCTV footage showed Miss Bevan clutching four-day-old Zaani Tiana as she calmly walked off the postnatal ward, past at least four nurses and out of the hospital unchallenged.
Last night a walker found some belongings at the top of the Avon Gorge and a police helicopter found a body below the Clifton Suspension Bridge, but did not find a baby.
Search teams are combing the area for signs of the missing newborn, who may have been out in near-freezing conditions since Tuesday night.
CCTV: This is the moment missing mother Charlotte Bevan walked out of hospital with her newborn baby daughter dressed only in thin hospital slippers with her child wrapped in a blanket
Clues: A member of the public found some items believed to belong to the missing woman at the top of the gorge and then called the police, who are now searching for her baby
Officers are now using the daylight hours to slowly descend into the Avon Gorge searching for the baby while a sniffer dog team are below
Two female officers use tools to search through the deep bushes below the cliffs
Officers had been searching for mother Charlotte Bevan after she walked out of Bristol Maternity Hospital at 9pm on Tuesday, which led them to the gorge
Officers have not found any sign of the baby who has been missing for almost two days now
Location: The Avon Gorge and the Clifton Suspension Bridge is a mile and a half away from the hospital where Charlotte Bevan went missing with her newborn baby
Officers are walking land above the gorge while specialist officers have also been rapelling down the rocks into the valley below.
It is believed charity worker Miss Bevan may have stopped taking medication for depression so that she could breastfeed Zaani. She is also understood to have been treated for schizophrenia.
A member of the public found some items believed to belong to the missing woman at the top of the gorge and then called the police, who found the dead body at 11pm.
Miss Bevan's family have been informed and the body will be identified today as specialist search teams with sniffer dogs continue to search the gorge for the four-day-old child.
A police spokesman said: 'Searches are continuing on the ground but at the moment only one body, a woman, has been found. Our search in concentrated on that area'.
The new mother's disappearance on Tuesday night sparked a widespread police search as her worried mother and boyfriend pleaded with her to come home.
Pascal Malbrouck, 37, Miss Bevan's boyfriend and Zaani's father, had yesterday issued a heartfelt plea for her to 'please come back' and spoken of how they were excited to be new parents.
Detectives are trying to piece to together what caused her to pick up her new baby and walk out of hospital, saying she was 'confused and worried'.
She vanished between her boyfriend Pascal leaving her bedside at 8.30pm and nurses carrying out a regular check just after 9pm.
Friends have been helping in the search. One said Miss Bevan had suffered from depression since the death of her father Roy in 2000 aged 51: ‘Her father died of a brain tumour when she was 15 and the bottom dropped out of her world. She was badly affected.’
Two officers on horseback arrive at the scene via the Clifton Suspension Bridge
Tragedy: A body feared to be missing mother Charlotte Bevan but her baby Zaani Tiana is still missing
Police have said they are looking at a large area close to where the woman was found dead before considering other leads
Team: Search teams are checking the area above the gorge and are not looking at other areas of Bristol for the child
A walker found items believed to belong to charity worker Miss Bevan here in Bristol and called the police
Experts are having to search for the baby on extremely difficult rocky terrain
Scene: Police have taped off an area below the cliff where the body is believed to have been found
Clues: Belongings were found at the top of the gorge, which led to police finding the woman dead
The Avon Gorge runs for ten miles from the sea, through Bristol and into Somerset
But last night, an Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: 'We can confirm that the body of a woman has been found in the Avon Gorge in Bristol.
'Formal identification will not take place until tomorrow, Thursday.
'The family of Charlotte Bevan, who was reported missing last night, have been informed of this development.
'The police helicopter remains in the area to assist the continuing searches by police officers on the ground.'
The Avon Gorge is a mile and a half away from the hospital where Charlotte Bevan went missing with her newborn baby.
A cordon was put in place along the A4, Portway, below it and the Clifton Suspension Bridge and there was heavy police presence on Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Investigation: Police gathered under the Clifton Suspension Bridge in the Avon Gorge last night after finding a body feared to be missing mother Charlotte Bevan. Her baby Zaani Tiana is still missing
Avon and Somerset Police found the body using a helicopter fitted with a search light and said formal identification of the body would not take place until today
Hunt: A search team was seen rappelling into the gorge last night as they hunted for the missing baby
A scientific investigations team, along with police officers, were scouring a ledge in the grounds of Clifton Observatory above the Avon Gorge.
Rope access teams were also scaling the cliffs, while a police helicopter circled the area, with a search light. An ambulance team remained at the top of the ledge.
Pascal Malbrouck, 37, had begged for her to 'please come back' and said he was 'heartbroken' by what had happened.
He said that his girlfriend had been happy after the birth.
He told a press conference: 'Charlotte, please come back, you're welcome any time. The last two days as a family was amazing and I really want to do that for much longer. I'm waiting for you.'
Her mother, Rachel Fortune, 59, also appealed for her daughter to get in touch, telling her: 'We all really enjoyed seeing you be such a good mother. Let's go forward with that.
'Please get in touch. We all love you. Just get in touch, please get in touch.'
Charlotte went to Wells Cathedral School, an elite musical school in Somerset, and according to her Facebook page she works for environmental charity Good is Planet Earth.
New mother: Miss Bevan is seen clutching her newborn daughter Zaani Tiana to her chest as she walked out of the Bristol Maternity Hospital on Tuesday night
Seen on screen: The footage was released by police yesterday afternoon as they continue their search
Video footage: Miss Bevan is then seen walking around a corner before emerging with the little girl
Exit: Now holding her newborn daughter, whose blanket can be seen here, Miss Bevan is shown walking towards a set of double doors
Clothing: Miss Bevan appears to be wearing just a pair of leggings and a jumper. She has no coat and no socks, with just a thin pair of hospital slippers on her feet
Leaving: Miss Bevan holds her daughter as she pushes a button to release the lock on the door
Open door: She then leaves the corridor and walks into a lobby area of the hospital
Arms full: Miss Bevan calmly pushes open the door and walks into the lobby with her little girl in her arms
Desperate: The CCTV was released following an emotional appeal by Miss Bevan's boyfriend Pascal Malbrouk, and her mother Rachel Fortune
Widespread: Miss Bevan's disappearance has prompted a huge police search
Unnoticed: The new mother looks down at her daughter Zaani Tiana while she walks past at least three hospital staff members who are crowded round a vending machine
Unchallenged: After strolling past what looks like a reception desk, she leaves the hospital through two sets of automatic doors and steps onto the street outside
Parents to be: Miss Bevan with Mr Malbrouck before their birth of their baby daughter (left) and the new mother in the late stages of her pregnancy (right)
Miss Bevan's boyfriend Pascal Malbrouck, 37, pleaded: 'Please come back.'You're welcome any time. The last two days as a family were amazing and I really want to do that for much longer'
Police said they were 'concerned' for the welfare of the mother and baby, who were both believed to be severely under-dressed for the cold weather.
Officers were 'urgently' hunting for the pair, and appealed directly to Miss Bevan to get in touch and let them know she and her baby were safe and well.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Crisp said Miss Bevan had been making 'great progress' and was due to be discharged from hospital in a day or two.
But she shocked staff by walking out on Tuesday night and not telling anyone where she was going.
Praise: Her mother Rachel Fortune, 57, described Charlotte as 'such a good mother' and begged her to get in touch with worried family members 
Worried: Mr Malbrouck (right) yesterday issued a desperate plea for information after his girlfriend Miss Bevan (left) vanished from hospital with their four-day-old baby daughter, Zaani Tiana
Boyfriend: Mr Malbrouck, pictured yesterday, said Miss Bevan was happy before she gave birth and could think of no reason why she would go missing
Home: Mr Malbrouck lives with Miss Bevan in a £125,000 three-bedroom flat on this road in Clifton, Bristol
Father: Writing on his Facebook page, Mr Malbrouck said: 'My daughter has gone missing with her mum Charlotte Bevan, please if anyone has got any info or has seen her please contact me'
Heading the search: Detective Chief Inspector, Simon Crisp, who is leading the search, urged Charlotte to make contact with friends, family or police
She left hospital without a coat or shoes, wearing just a pair of hospital slippers, a long black top and black trousers.
Friends have said Miss Bevan was part of a 'happy couple' and her disappearance was totally 'out of character'.
Just hours before she went missing, Miss Bevan posted a self-help video on her Facebook page called Get Through Positive And Negative Thinking Rough Patches.
'Heartbroken': Mr Malbrouck, who is originally from French territory Reunion in the Indian Ocean, added an emoticon to his plea for help which read 'feeling heartbroken'
Removal: Two officers were seen placing the bin into a police van as the search for Miss Bevan continued
Sealed off: Part of the road had been cordoned off following one of a number of reported sightings
Searching for evidence: A forensic officer takes photographs of one of the bins inside the police cordon
But earlier this month she had posted happy pictures of herself with her baby bump on the social networking site, where she also described herself as a 'free spirit'.
Describing herself, she wrote: 'I am free open-minded individual I love music, art, dancing and making clothes.
'I'm a free spirit open minded and individual I appreciate people for who they are kind or nasty they all need love.'
Isaac McCardle, a friend of the couple, told of the fraught hunt to find Miss Bevan and Zaani Tiana.
Clues? The forensic officer was seen clutching sample tubes to house any potential evidence
Search: Police are 'urgently' hunting Miss Bevan, who is thought to have walked out of the ward with her baby in her arms between 8.30pm and 9pm
Missing: Police have been desperately searching for Miss Bevan overnight, but are yet to find her
Vanished: Miss Bevan left Bristol Maternity Hospital (pictured) between 8.30pm and 9pm with newborn Zaani Tiana. Despite temperatures being just above freezing she left the unit wearing just hospital slippers
Fearful: The police spokesman said that Miss Bevan 'may appear confused and worried', and officers have been speaking to bus drivers, taxi drivers and morning commuters in their efforts to find her
Writing on Avon and Somerset Police's Facebook page, he said: 'This is out of character.
'I was out on the streets with a friend for over three hours and searched almost every road, park, alleyway etc in the area as well as high streets and found nothing.
'We talked to a police officer who was patrolling in a car and told us she'd not yet been found.
'I was in a warm coat and now I'm back home and chilled to the bone so it is worrying. I really hope they are both safe and are all reunited soon.
'I do feel out of respect people should stop jumping to conclusions. They are a happy couple.'
A University Hospitals Bristol spokesman said Miss Bevan had been due to be discharged today, adding: ‘Charlotte was recovering from the birth of her baby, and there were no indications that she was planning to self-discharge.
‘When staff went to check on her at 21.05 they found Charlotte and her baby missing and immediately sounded the alarm.’
No comments:
Post a Comment