Saanich police Sergeant Dean Jantzen said an autopsy performed on the child Wednesday failed to determine the cause of death.
“The immediate cause of death was not obvious,” Mr. Jantzen said. “We are told that more extensive testing by way of sampling is going to be required.”
The results won’t be known for days “or weeks or even months,” he said.
Police were called to a home in the 3800 block of Saanich Road around 9:30 a.m. Monday, after an unidentified resident of the home made the grisly discovery.
The child’s mother, 20-year-old Narumi Bito, an exchange student from Japan, has been charged with two Criminal Code offences ? neglecting to obtain assistance during childbirth and concealing the body of a child.
Police believe the child was born on or around Sept. 17, but have not been able to confirm what happened “between the time of birth and the time we became involved,” Sgt. Jantzen said.
The question of whether the baby was stillborn or alive and healthy at the time of birth is a key focus in the investigation. Police will not say if the infant was a boy or girl.
It’s not unusual for police to be called to sudden infant deaths, but it’s rare to be notified so long after the fact, Mr. Jantzen said.
“This set of circumstances is not typical,” he said. “There is a period of time between what is felt to be a date of birth and the date when our investigators became involved.
“It’s critical to this investigation to understand why.”
At a bail hearing Tuesday, police were granted permission to keep Ms. Bito in custody on a three-day “investigative remand” to give detectives more time to complete their investigation. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Friday.
Prosecuting a foreign national does not present any additional challenges or “have any necessary effect on how we’re going to proceed,” said Neil Mackenzie, a spokesman for the Attorney-General Ministry’s criminal justice branch.
Police said Ms. Bito arrived in Canada some time in the past couple of months, suggesting that the child was conceived in Japan.
Detectives are exploring that possibility and attempting to contact Ms. Bito’s family in Japan. Sgt. Jantzen, however, was unable to provide any updates on those aspects of the investigation.
He declined to comment on Ms. Bito’s mental state, except to say she is in a “safe place” and “some supports have been arranged for her.”
Staff at the Japanese Embassy in Ottawa were unable to say whether Ms. Bito or her family have been in contact with Japanese government officials.