Community funeral for Baby Anahera3 min read
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Exactly four years after the body of a newborn baby girl was tragically discovered at a Onehunga recycling plant, the local community is preparing to give her the farewell she was long denied – one filled with love, dignity, and remembrance.
Baby Anahera, meaning “Angel”, was found on Sunday, 16th August 2021 at the Visy Recycling Plant in Onehunga.
Despite a wide-reaching police investigation and national media attention, her parents or wider family have never been identified.
Police have released Anahera’s body, and she will be laid to rest in a community-led burial exactly four years after she was found – at 10am on Saturday, 16th August at St Peter’s Anglican Church.
Cllr Josephine Bartley, who has persistently advocated on Anahera’s behalf each year since 2021, has taken responsibility for her care and farewell.
“Anahera is not unclaimed,” Josephine says. “We claim her as a community. And now, finally, we can give her the loving send-off she deserves.”
The response Josephine has received has been deeply emotional for her. “Each person I’ve asked to help has said yes,” she says. “The love, the generosity – I keep crying.”
The service will be supported by Tipene Funerals, the Auckland Pasifika Gospel Choir, and a team of dedicated youth volunteers. A white casket has been generously donated, a burial plot arranged, and the local community, along with several businesses, has shown immense compassion and rallied together in full support.
A coroner’s report revealed the extraordinary efforts made to identify Anahera’s family.
Police DNA tested nearly 100 people, reviewed CCTV footage, and made inquiries with hospitals and the public – but were unable to trace her origins.
Anahera arrived at the recycling plant on a day when 104 trucks had delivered waste from across Auckland. It is not clear what truck she was on, and which area she was dumped. She was spotted by a staff member on a conveyor belt – a moment of shock and horror that still resonates.
A blue plastic bag with a few items of baby clothes was found near her body.
A post-mortem determined Anahera was full term, but could not determine her ethnicity, whether she was born alive or stillborn, and no definitive cause of death was found due to the injuries she sustained after being dumped.
While Anahera will finally be laid to rest, police emphasise that the case remains open.
“There may be someone out there – a friend, a family member, or the mother herself – who is now ready to speak,” police say. “If anyone knows anything, we urge you to contact us. It’s never too late.”
As Onehunga prepares to gather in honour of the little girl who was left nameless and alone, the community’s message is clear: She is ours. She is loved. And she will not be forgotten.
