The bodies of five babies were found by police at a residence in southwestern France on Thursday in what authorities are calling the worst case of infanticide in recent years, the Agence France-Presse reported.
Police were called to a house in rural Louchats after a 40-year-old man, believed to be the father, found the body of a newborn inside a freezer bag, sources close to the investigation told the news agency.
After searching the home, police "discovered four more bodies of babies" in a freezer, the AFP reported.
The man's 35-year-old wife, believed to be the babies' mother, was taken to a nearby hospital "for gynecological and psychiatric examinations." She apparently hid her latest pregnancy from her husband and gave birth to the newborn on Tuesday, investigators told The Independent.
Medical experts will perform autopsies to determine if the babies were born alive.
The parents, whose names have not been released, have two daughters ages 13 and 15. Police noted at this time the wife "does not appear to have a history of mental illness."
The horrific incident comes after a 2010 infanticide case involving a woman who admitted to killing her eight newborns and burying them in her garden in northern France, according The Independent.
The woman claimed she was the victim of incest.
