A woman believed to be a family member of the two children whose remains were found in suitcases in New Zealand is in South Korea, Seoul police say.
The woman, a Korean-born New Zealander, arrived in South Korea in 2018 and there was no record of departure since then, a police officer told Reuters.
Her whereabouts, and whether she had other relatives with her when she arrived in the country, were not immediately known.
‘New Zealand police had requested confirmation whether the person who might be related to a crime case was in South Korea,’ the police officer said, adding that given her past address and age, she could be the mother of the kids.
New Zealand police launched a homicide inquiry in Auckland this month after the remains of the children were found by a family going through the contents of a storage locker they had purchased unseen.
The mother of two primary school aged children whose remains were found inside suitcases bought at an online auction may be living in South Korea
Pictured: Forensics teams work at the site after the chilling discovery was made earlier this month
The children had been aged between five and 10 years and had been dead for some time, New Zealand police said.
The family who found the bodies were not connected to the deaths.
Last Thursday, Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua said the children may have been inside the suitcases for between three and four years. Both suitcases were of similar size.
Detective Inspector Vaaelua said police had reasons to believe the children have family in New Zealand that have not yet been identified.
‘The investigation team is working very hard to hold accountable the person or persons responsible for the death of these children,’ Detective Inspector Vaaelua said.
‘We’ve commenced inquiries with overseas agencies. I cannot state any further than that.’
Detective Inspector Vaaelua said last Thursday that CCTV would be analysed but admitted police were in for a challenge, given the length of time the bodies were stored for.
‘The nature of this discovery provides some complexities to the investigation especially given the time lapsed between the time of death and the time of discovery,’ he said.
The suitcases were among the items purchased by a NZ family during an online auction of a storage unit at Safe Store Papatoetoe
New Zealand Police have requested information about a woman who arrived in South Korea (pictured) in 2018
A family from Manurewa, in south Auckland bid in an auction on August 11 and won the unit’s contents before making the shocking discovery human remains were inside
‘A lot of us (in the police) are parents and we have a job to do and we’re doing our very best to identify the victims.
‘What I can say is we are making very good progress with DNA inquiries.
‘This is no easy investigation and no matter how long or how many years you serve and investigate horrific cases like this it’s never an easy task. I myself am a parent of young kids but we have a job to do.’
Detective Inspector Vaaelua said he understood the update on the incident was ‘deeply upsetting’ to the community.
‘We’re still on a fact-finding mission and we still have a lot of unanswered questions,’ he told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
‘I really for the family of these victims, there are relatives out there that aren’t aware that their loved ones are deceased, especially two young children.’
The family bought the unit’s contents, which is said to have included ‘prams, toys, and a walker’ on August 11 after bidding on the storage unit online.
Detectives and forensic teams swarmed the house of the family who unwittingly purchased the contents at an auction (pictured)
Under the practice, buyers are not allowed to rifle through the contents in depth before the auction and must bid blindly on the unit.
They are usually storage sheds with unpaid rent. The auctions have even been turned into a popular US reality TV show, Storage Wars.
When they win the auction, they are then allowed to properly look through the unit.
A director of storage company Safe Store Ltd, who wished to not be identified, said the company was co-operating with police in their investigation.
‘We won’t say anything because it is under police investigation, and we are co-operating with police,’ the director said.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk