Baby's memorial box washes up on family's property after Auckland floods

Thursday, 2 February 2023

A child's memorial box has washed ashore after Aucklands's heavy rain and the finder hope to reunite it with the family.

A memorial box, believed to be for a baby who died, has washed up on a south Auckland property after heavy rain caused widespread flooding in the region on Friday.

Now, the family who found it are hoping to locate the box’s owner so it can be returned.

Peter Elbourne was surveying the damage to his Wattle Downs home on Saturday morning, when he came across a box with the name Iris-Rose Adaliah Singh written on it.

A date, August 14, 2022, was also displayed.

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Talei Elbourne, left, and her sister Ava have been helping their dad to try and find the owner of a memorial box that washed up on their property.

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“In the aftermath of the flooding we were inspecting the land, slips and trees that had fallen down and there it was.”

Elbourne has an accessway to the beach from the family’s property and the box was sitting at the water’s edge of the Kauri Point Rd estuary, just in front of the house, he said.

Peter Elbourne was surveying the damage to his Wattle Downs home on Saturday morning when he came across a baby’s memorial box.

Elbourne believed the box belonged to a baby who had died.

Inside were items for a newborn baby – a pacifier, neatly folded clothes and an urn Elbourne thought contained ashes.

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The box itself had been slightly damaged, but everything inside was safe, he said.

Inside the box was an urn which Elbourne thought contained ashes.

The family brought the box back to their home and had been trying to find the baby’s parents since.

”We just wanted to respect the contents and also the intention that was set out for that box, so we have left it as it was,” he said.

Elbourne said he immediately took a photo and posted it on the Wattles Downs Community Facebook page.

They had not been able to get in touch with the rightful owner yet, but the help from the south Auckland community to locate the box's owner had been “unreal”, he said.

“A special mention to the people in Manurewa and Wattle Downs and the wider community who have gone out of their way to find the owner.”

His two young daughters, Talei and Ava, had been working hard to try and locate the box’s rightful owner as well, he said.

Through the work of the community they had been able to find the name of the person who likely ordered the box, but were struggling to get in contact with him, Elbourne said.

Elbourne has four children himself, making the discovery hit close to home.

He had also recently lost two loved ones, including his mother, and was going through his own grieving process, which he said made him want to ensure the box was returned even more.

“Me going through that process really solidified, and cemented the need to make sure that box went back to the rightful owner.”