Mother of dead babies hidden in box for 52 years identified by police

Police today identified the woman suspected of being the mother of two babies whose remains were discovered in toy boxes.

Margaret Guarino, 77, is thought to have hidden the children, who may have been stillborn, more than 50 years ago.

The bodies were discovered in the house they had shared in Audenshaw, Tameside.

The discovery was made by her daughter Lucia Grime, 45, more than three years after Ms Guarino died.

It is understood the family had thought the boxes contained Christmas decorations.

The first time Lucia touched them was when she decided to get rid of her mother's belongings in a house clearance.

Inside a pink doll's box and blue toy box, she discovered two smaller boxes containing the naked remains, which had been wrapped in towelling material and a coat.

The bodies were badly decomposed. A copy of a national newspaper dated November 26, 1956, was found in one box.

Police are waiting for the results of a post mortem and DNA tests, expected to take place on Thursday, to discover how the babies died, their age and sex.

Friends described Ms Guarino as a "deep" person capable of keeping a secret.

The twice married mother of eight, who had children to three different men, died in July 2006.

She had lived at several properties across Tameside and moved into the maisonette on Rowcon Close, Audenshaw, more than three years ago.

Detective Inspector Derek Weaver said: "The children are shocked, bewildered and surprised and it's been a traumatic time for them.

"At this stage we are treating this as an open minded inquiry and forensic tests will tell us more information.

"We were called to the address and the remains of two children were found wrapped up in a box within a box.

"The daughter found the boxes. A son was in the house at the time. It's a tragic story and we just need to get to the bottom of it.

"At the moment it's our best guess they could have been there for 52 years.

"The family want to know the answers who the babies are, where have they come from and are they related to one another."

A family friend said: "She always seemed deep and it wouldn't surprise me if she was carrying a secret."

Father Vincent Cavey of neighbouring St Mary's Parish, Denton, said he was aware of the family living in the area for many years.

He said: "I feel a great sympathy for someone who's carried such a burden through their life. It must have been very difficult when those children were born.

"If this is a case of stillbirth we would always show the greatest sympathy but there may have been other reasons why they wanted to conceal this - maybe a sense of guilt which we would not wish on anyone.

"Many years ago this is the sort of thing people hid as there was more of a taboo attached to it, but in the many years I have been a priest I have not been aware of a similar case."