Police in New Zealand launched a homicide investigation after human remains were allegedly discovered stashed in suitcases in Auckland. According to reports, a family from Manurewa, South Auckland in New Zealand had won the two suitcases following a storage unit auction on August 11. Upon returning home, the family, to their horror, discovered human remains stuffed inside the suitcases.
Remains of two children found in auctioned suitcases, reports AFP News Agency quoting New Zealand Police
— ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2022
The post-mortem of the remains revealed that they belonged to two young children.
NZ Police Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua said on Thursday that the bodies of the children, aged five to ten, may have been inside the suitcases for three to four years.
According to the New Zealand police, the family which purchased the items from the storage unit is not involved in any way.
The family had bid online on the contents of the storage locker, which is a common practice for storage sheds with unpaid rent and has even inspired a popular US reality TV show, Storage Wars.
Buyers are not permitted to thoroughly examine the contents prior to the auction, and it was only after the family returned home that they made the horrific discovery.
Meanwhile, NZ Police Detective Inspector Vaaelua stated that CCTV would be analysed, but that it would be difficult given the length of time the bodies had been in storage.
As per NewsHub, the New Zealand Police are trying to identify the dead bodies to notify their relatives about the unfortunate event.
“The priority for police is to confirm the identification of the deceased so that we can establish the full circumstances behind the discovery,” NZ Police spokesperson Anna Thompson said in a statement. Thompson added, “However, we are still awaiting the completion and results of the post-mortem examination so we are unable to comment.”
