Bodies of Charlotte Bevan and baby daughter found

The bodies of Charlotte Bevan and her newborn daughter Zaani have been found near Avon Gorge near Bristol.

Police had been searching for Ms Bevan and her daughter since the pair went missing from Bristol maternity hospital on Tuesday evening.

Questions about the supervision Bevan was receiving intensified on Thursday.

One line of inquiry being followed by police is that Bevan had mental health issues and may have made changes to medication she was taking so she could breastfeed her baby.

The police issued a statement shortly after 11pm on Wednesday confirming that a woman’s body had been found in the gorge, which is spanned by the Clifton suspension bridge, about 15 minutes walk from the hospital. A baby’s body was found on Thursday afternoon and confirmed as that of baby Zaani.

CCTV footage was released earlier on Wednesday showing Bevan, 30, leaving the hospital with her baby on Tuesday evening. She did not have a coat or shoes and is thought to have been wearing hospital slippers, while her baby was wrapped only in blankets.

The footage shows Bevan walking into a corridor where she appears to talk to a member of staff before collecting her baby from another room. Wearing black leggings, a jumper and slippers, she carries her daughter towards exit doors and pushes a button to get out.

The mother looks down at her daughter while she walks past hospital staff members who are standing around a vending machine. After walking unchallenged past what looks like a reception desk, she leaves the hospital through two sets of automatic doors.

During an emotional press conference at a Bristol police station on Wednesday, Bevan’s boyfriend, Pascal Malbrouck, and her mother, Rachel Fortune, had appealed for her to come home.

University Hospitals Bristol said Bevan had been due to be discharged from St Michael’s hospital on Thursday, but chose to leave early “for reasons unknown to us”.

“Charlotte was recovering from the birth of her baby, and there were no indications that she was planning to self-discharge. Charlotte and her baby were seen by staff at 20.30; when staff went to check on her at 21.05 they found Charlotte and her baby missing and immediately sounded the alarm.”

Bevan is believed to have worked for an environmental charity. A post on her Facebook page says: “I am a 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.”

The page says she was watching a video called Get Through Positive and Negative Thinking Rough Patches at 7.16am on Tuesday. At about 2pm, she appeared to be listening to the 2003 R Kelly song Ignition.

Agencies