Sheffield Newborn Died From Stab Wounds, Five Held; California Still Hunting Father and Teen Daughter in Separate Case

Sheffield: Baby girl died of stab wounds, five in custody

A newborn girl found at a house on Holywell Heights in Sheffield's Wincobank area died from stab wounds, South Yorkshire Police said Tuesday, September 1, citing postmortem results.

Police were called to the property just before 6 a.m. on Sunday, August 30, over concerns for the baby's safety. She was pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts from police and paramedics, according to the BBC.

Seven people between the ages of 15 and 37 were arrested on suspicion of murder. Two, a 26-year-old and a 37-year-old, were bailed. The remaining five are still in custody after police obtained a warrant to extend their detention, according to both the BBC and The Guardian.

No one has been charged as of Tuesday. Det. Ch. Insp. Tom Woodward, who is leading the investigation, said the case has affected everyone involved, from the first officers and paramedics on the scene to the detectives now leading the investigation.

"Our commitment to this little girl is unwavering," Woodward said, according to the BBC. "We will confront every difficult and distressing challenge and pursue every line of inquiry with determination and care to secure justice for her."

The Guardian reported Woodward also asked the public to "avoid speculating around the circumstances of this tragic incident" while the investigation is fast-moving.

A neighbor told the BBC that a family of five, including three teenagers, moved into the three-bedroom house about eight months ago. She described them as quiet but said the house regularly had large gatherings of visitors. She said she was unaware any woman at the property was pregnant and was confused to learn a newborn had died there.

Specialist search officers remain in the Holywell Heights area. South Yorkshire Police is asking anyone with information to come forward, citing incident number 993 from August 30, 2026, or to contact the charity Crimestoppers.

California: A month-long manhunt for a father and his 14-year-old daughter

In a separate case roughly 5,000 miles away, Monterey County, California authorities have spent a month searching for a father and his 14-year-old daughter after a newborn, whom they've named "Baby Angelita," was found dead along Struve Road near a strawberry field on August 1.

Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said detectives believe the 14-year-old gave birth on the roadside, left the infant on the ground with signs of traumatic injury, and fled. The teen is charged with murder, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office.

Her father, 38-year-old Sergio Galvez Perez, is wanted on several felony counts, including incest, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, and lewd acts with a child under 14. Investigators believe he impregnated his daughter when she was 13 and is now concealing her from law enforcement, according to the Sheriff's Office and reporting from the LA Times.

Nieto has been explicit that the case involves two children, not one villain and one victim. "Because really at the center of this is two children," Nieto said at a news conference, "Baby Angelita who lost her life and a 14-year-old child who's now the subject of serious allegations involving the death of the baby, who is also a victim because of the sexual abuse by her own father." No court has yet ruled on any of the charges against Perez or the teen; they remain allegations.

Ofelia Garcia Ortega, 36, identified by authorities as the teen's mother, was arrested on a child endangerment charge, then posted bail and was released, according to the LA Times and TMZ.

Nieto credited Flock license-plate reading cameras with identifying a vehicle connected to the case within 53 hours of the discovery. "With technology, our detectives had identified people connected to the case, and that matters," Nieto said, adding the cameras "make good police work more effective."

Privacy advocates in California and elsewhere have raised legitimate concerns that Flock's automated license-plate networks create a rolling record of everyone's movements, accessible to law enforcement without a warrant in many jurisdictions, with limited public oversight of how long the data is kept or who can search it. The LA Times noted the cameras have "stirred controversy across the state" on those grounds. Whatever one thinks of that debate, in this case the technology generated a lead within days on a father accused of concealing a child rape victim from police.

Authorities say it remains unclear whether Perez and his daughter are still in the United States or have fled to Tierra Blanca, Mexico, according to Ground News's aggregation of coverage. The Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who spots either of them to call 911 rather than approach, warning the pair should be considered dangerous to confront directly.

South Yorkshire Police still must decide whether to bring charges against any of the five suspects held in Sheffield. Meanwhile, California authorities continue searching for a father wanted for allegedly raping his own daughter before he crosses, or has already crossed, an international border.