On April 3, 1928, a grim discovery sent shockwaves through the quiet community of Wells.

A seemingly innocuous parcel had lain undisturbed on the bank outside Sunnycroft on Milton Lane for weeks, first spotted by a young boy who was told to leave it alone by his mother.

So it was Molly Edwards, a weary traveller scouring the country for work, who stumbled upon the large, brown parcel tied with string and opened it, hoping to find old clothes that might be of use. She cautiously untied the string and peeled back the layers of wrapping. Inside, she found a nightdress, but it was concealing something far more sinister.

Unfolding the garment, Molly was horrified to spot bloodstains. The police were immediately alerted, leading Police Sergeant Dunster and PC Travers to unveil the chilling contents: a newspaper from November 1927, a bloodstained apron, and the decomposing remains of a baby boy, his umbilical cord still attached.

Dr G Mullins, who examined the remains at the police station, faced the daunting task of unraveling the mystery.

He said the body was that of a boy, still with the umbilical cord attached. The skull was empty, and his lungs and intestines were no longer there. The neck was twisted to the right, and his spine bent forward, but decomposition was so far advanced it was difficult for him to tell much more about the child's story. He could not say if the child had been born 'sleeping', or if he had been strangled and he said it was impossible to tell whether the blood had come from the child, or the person who had left him there.

While the doctor studied the child, the police were looking for evidence.

They found a laundry mark in red on the nightdress - IX29 - but no-one seemed to recognise it. They contacted laundries across the country to no avail and checked in with institutions to no avail.

The identity of the child and the circumstances of his death remain a haunting, unsolved enigma in the annals of local history.