Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao had been missing for more than a year before police found her remains.
The discovery of remains in the search for missing Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao brings some much-needed closure but the police case is far from over.
Earlier this week, a team of 60 staff searched a property in Greenpark, spending 90 minutes before a shallow grave was discovered.
Newstalk ZB reporter Emily Ansell was at the scene from 9.30am that day after police advised they would undertake the new search.
Ansell told The Front Page the area was rural with many fields and farming equipment nearby.
She could not see the search site itself but at one point a large group of police walked past wearing high vis and carrying shovels.
“Around the 12.30pm mark, maybe just before, police started to leave - they sort of trickled out”, she said.
“Interestingly, I was trying to flag a few of them down to figure out what was going on but I was getting blanked for the rest of that afternoon so it did make me wonder if something had been found.”
Police issued a statement confirming remains had been found as Ansell drove back to the newsroom.
She rushed back to the scene and spoke with a neighbour.
“She didn’t want to say much but she did say that it was a huge relief to know that something had come of the searches.”
Ansell interviewed Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves on the first anniversary of Bao’s disappearance, two weeks ago.
“Talking to Nicola Reeves on the anniversary, you did a get the sense they were confident they were heading in the right direction”, Ansell said.
“Perhaps likely they knew something we didn’t and so when the call came through that they were searching, we went straight out there and I think there was a sense of hope. This was the first time we had been alerted by police of a search in a while”
A postmortem was due to take place yesterday and police have remained at the Greenpark property to search for other possible items of interest,
Bao’s family have been processing the news and taking time to come to terms with the information.
Tingjun Cao, 53, of Bryndwr, has been charged with murdering Bao. He has pleaded not guilty.
Police are now continuing to prepare for the upcoming trial, scheduled for October.
Asked whether having Bao’s remains would help police with their case, Ansell said: “I imagine, as always with any trial, having some evidence like that will be welcome for those prosecuting”.
Listen to the full episode to hear more from Emily Ansell about when Bao first disappeared and why it took police so long to search the area where the remains were found.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The episode is presented by Georgina Campbell, a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.