Fresh mystery in motel baby death probe as authorities try to piece together his short life

A baby boy whose decomposing body was found inside an Adelaide motel room was unknown to South Australia’s health system, raising fresh questions about the infant’s short life and unexplained death.

7NEWS understands there is no record of the child having contact with SA Health services, despite investigators believing his parents had been living in South Australia since the start of the year.

The six to seven-month-old boy wa s found dead inside a room at the Tollgate Motel at Glen Osmond on October 10 after police received information prompting a welfare check at the property.

The discovery shocked even seasoned detectives and sparked a major crime investigation.

Police have since charged Benjamin Nicholas Houghton, 40, and Yue Ning Lieu, 42, with criminal neglect and concealing human remains.

The pair are alleged to have been staying at the Glen Osmond motel since arriving in South Australia from Queensland earlier this year.

It is understood the infant’s body may have remained in the motel room for up to a month before it was discovered.

A post-mortem examination determined the child was about six or seven months old when he died.

Investigators are now attempting to piece together the infant’s life, including when he arrived in South Australia and whether he ever came into contact with health or community services.

Major Crime detectives returned to the Tollgate Motel on Friday, cataloguing and seizing a range of items including cash, clothing and other property as investigations continued.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens previously described the matter as complex.

Detectives are continuing to work through the circumstances surrounding the child’s death following the completion of a post-mortem examination.

Stevens said investigations involving children often had a lasting impact on first responders and health workers.

“It’s not just the family who are affected by this, it’s the responding police officers, it’s the detectives who work on the case, it’s the people that work in our health sector that have to manage those circumstances,” he said.