Sarah Meyers was dubbed the ‘Baby in Pink’ because she was left wrapped in a pink towel. Now she’s the youngest ever searcher on Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace

Young searcher Sarah Meyers with Davina McCall(Image: ITV)

Abandoned in a multistory carpark at barely an hour old, wrapped in a pink towel, Sarah Meyer is now the youngest ever searcher on ITV ’s hit show Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace.

Dubbed the ‘Baby in Pink’ in the press, Sarah was found as a newborn in the car park in Camberley, Surrey, in 2001, wrapped in a pink towel and white shawl inside a holdall. The discovery sparked a nationwide search for her mother, with a police sergeant even appearing with Sarah on This Morning with Judy Finnegan. Judy said: “This little sprog was abandoned in a multi-story carpark. She was barely an hour old, weighing just 7lbs.”

But sadly, despite many appeals, Sarah’s birth mother did not come forward, and Sarah was adopted at three months by Jo and Pierre, who already had an adopted daughter Jess. In emotional scenes to be screened on an upcoming episode of Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace, 24-year-old Sarah tries to find out her birth story.

Hosted by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell, the spin-off helps foundlings, people left as babies, often in extraordinary places such as a phone box, a cardboard box or on church steps. It was revealed that when Sarah was found, her umbilical cord had been cut, but it hadn’t been clamped, which suggests it could have been a home birth. Police sent Sarah straight to hospital, where nursing staff took her under their wing.

Wendy Whiting [Retired Detective Superintendent] with Sarah Meyer [searcher] as baby(Image: ITV)

Sarah, who still has the towel and holdall, says: “On the news, I was the Baby in Pink because I was in the pink towel wrapped in the blanket. “I was named Caroline after the nurse who looked after me and Pembrooke after my car park. It’s like a little secret identity of mine. Now my middle name is Caroline.”

Sarah and her sister Jess were always told they were adopted. She says: “I want my birth parents to know that they shouldn’t feel any remorse because I’ve had a wonderful life. But I’d like an explanation because it is something that is missing, to know where I come from. Why was I abandoned?” In the show, Sarah returns to the car park where she was found and notices she was left in a busy area and wonders who actually left her. She says: “I was an evening baby and 30 minutes to an hour old. So I was literally fresh out of the womb.”

In a police evidence box, Sarah also has a letter, sent to the police ten days after she was found – but the typed, unstamped letter gave no clues. It reads: “Please look after my little girl. I love her so much, but just can’t cope with another baby. Thank you to all the police officers involved, hospital staff, and the members of the public for their help. Thank you.”

Sarah meets up with Police Sergeant Wendy Whiting, who was the first on the scene and stayed across the case. Wendy, who reveals the lady who found Sarah at first thought she was a bomb, says: “I remember the radio message coming out and thinking, ‘Did I just hear that right?’ An abandoned baby, no clothes on, we were concerned.”

Sarah Meyer, 24, is Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace’s youngest searcher(Image: ITV)

Given that Sarah is only 24, the LLF research team quickly manages to discover significant news – they track down both Sarah’s birth parents. Sarah’s birth mother was in her late teens when Sarah was born and already had a child. Unfortunately, being found has proved difficult and she doesn’t respond to the team’s approach.

Sarah, who now lives in Northern Ireland with her partner Shannon and has a cybersecurity degree, says: “It’s good to hear that she’s at least alive and is out there. It leaves the door open for her to come and meet me if she wants to. I’ll never close that door. I respect that it’s such a big thing for her. I understand that she might not be ready. I want her to see that I’ve lived a good life and that I’m not angry with her.”

Sarah Meyer as a child(Image: ITV)

In more positive news, Sarah’s father, who has a partner and daughter, reveals he had no idea that she existed but would be thrilled to get to know her. Staying anonymous to protect the birth mother’s identity, he is choked with emotion as he says: “It’s very hard to process, that I didn’t know, that I wasn’t there.

“It’s very upsetting to know that my daughter was just left there in that situation. Anything could have happened to her.” He wonders if his late mother, who worked on the hospital unit where Sarah would have been taken, might have seen her baby granddaughter.

In true Long Lost Family style, there is an exchange of photos and then a tearful reunion as Sarah finally meets her birth father, and the pair notice physical similarities as well as common interests. He says: “My daughters can get to know each other and we can all be a family together.” Sarah adds: “I’ve been waiting a long time, I just didn’t think it would be possible. He was as I imagined and more, beyond what I expected. I can’t wait to get to know him more. The past is in the past and the adventure is only beginning.”

*Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace continues on ITV on Wednesdays at 9pm.