Berlin ? Three dead babies have been found stuffed in a freezer of a large family home in the town of Wenden in northwestern Germany, local TV said Monday.

Their 44-year-old mother, whose name has not been disclosed, was arrested on suspicion of killing the newborn babies, presumably in the late 1980s as one of the bodies was wrapped in a newspaper dated 1988.

The woman is married to a 47-year-old electrician and has two sons, aged 18 and 22, and a 24-year-old daughter.

The mother was driven to the police station by her family after two of her children came across the gruesome findings while looking for something to eat in the basement fridge.

The forensic team ruled out the possibility that the babies were stillborn, but it is still unclear whether they were breathing when put into the freezer. Autopsies to establish the cause of death will be carried out as soon as the bodies are thawed.

According to preliminary reports, the woman was able to easily conceal the three pregnancies from her family because she was overweight.