Three friends, Christo Plekenpol, Marie Vermeulen and Ruald Roos, were socializing at the dam when they saw a silver and black Colt bakkie stop on the bridge between Athlone and Kruger Dam.
A man got out and threw something into Athlone Dam, before getting back into his bakkie and speeding off.
The trio went to investigate and made the grim discovery.
The police were alerted alongside the paper, and an appeal was made to the community to come forward with information.
Two women were later identified by the Mhluzi community as possible mothers.
Their DNA was taken and sent for analysis, which proved that neither of them had aborted the fully developed fetus.
• Meanwhile, the family, child and sexual offences unit is pushing for control prosecutors to sign off on baby X’s docket.
She was found wrapped in a newspaper alive by a teenager who took a shortcut through the bushy area behind the railway track.
The Middelburg Observer photographs taken on the scene, went viral the next week after the story was published on the front page.
Hundreds of people streamed to the Middeburg Hospital where Baby X was treated, hoping to adopt.
The situation became so dire, that access to Baby X was immediately restricted, and after her discharge from hospital, she was taken to a place of safety out of town.
•According to captain Khanyisile Zwane, there has been no credible leads since her discovery which could have led police to the mother.
“Despite many calls, not a single one panned out in our favour,” she told the Observer.
The FCS-unit is now pushing for the case to be closed so that Baby X can be adopted.
“Baby X will not be eligible for adoption if the docket remains open, the docket has been sent to court for a final decision on closure,” captain Zwane confirmed.
Social worker, Ms Su-Mari Rootman, told the Observer that they are simply waiting for the docket to be closed so that a match can be made with screened couples in line for adoption.
“Can you believe that Baby X will turn one in September, she’s healthy and happy, and we couldn’t be happier for her,” Ms Rootman told the Observer.
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