Adelaide: A man and a woman have been formally charged after a young baby boy was discovered dead inside an Adelaide motel room during a weekend welfare check.
Police said 40-year-old Benjamin Nicholas Houghton and 42-year-old Yue Ning Lieu remain in custody following the grim discovery at a motel in Glen Osmond on Saturday. Authorities indicated that the infant had been dead for a significant period of time before being found.
A subsequent post-mortem examination revealed the victim was an infant aged between six and seven months old. Investigators stated that the two accused individuals had been residing at the Tollgate Motel since arriving in South Australia at the beginning of the year.
Houghton and Lieu have each been charged with criminal neglect and destroying human remains to pervert the course of justice. Their cases were briefly mentioned in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, where neither defendant applied for bail. They were remanded in custody to appear in court again on May 3, 2027.
While eastern district detectives initiated the inquiry, leadership of the case has now shifted to the Major Crime Investigation Branch due to the complex nature of the circumstances and the extensive resources required. Police are urging anyone who stayed at the Tollgate Motel or who has specific information regarding the occupants of room four to come forward and contact Crime Stoppers.