Dead woman ran local massage parlour

Homicide detectives were today trying to piece together the final movements of a massage parlour manager found dead in a car in an Auckland car park at the weekend.


Xiukin Feng, 54, also known as Nancy, worked at a parlour in New Lynn, the same suburb in which her body was found.


Detective Senior Sergeant John Sutton said police were keeping an open mind as to why Ms Feng had been killed.


"The relevance of what she did for a job may be involved," he said.


"But we should not look upon it as the reason or the cause of her death."


Mr Sutton said police were still attempting to establish if she had other roles at the parlour, including involvement in ownership.


He understood she had been there "for some months", working almost every night and getting home late.


He said the 25-strong inquiry team was also looking for some of her personal property, which had gone missing.


They included a blue Samsung E700 flip-top cellphone, a Rado watch, a red Shiseido cosmetics bag some make-up and a key ring.


As part of the search for any items that might be of relevance, rubbish from bins near the car park were being examined.


Mr Sutton made another appeal for help from the public, including anyone in Chinese community or the massage parlour industry who knew Ms Feng or had information as to why she was killed.


Ms Feng's body was discovered early yesterday in the back seat of a grey/gold Mitsubishi Eterna, registration AFS413, near the Rata Rd entrance of a branch of The Warehouse.


A security guard had seen the car there about 22 hours earlier.


A post-mortem examination showed Ms Feng had received a head injury.


Mr Sutton said detectives had not established where or when Ms Feng died.


He said a previous appeal for information from people who might have seen the car while shopping on Saturday had produced only a small response.


"A number of people have rung up to tell us they visited The Warehouse that day," he said.


"But unfortunately, at this time, no-one has seen the vehicle in question."


He declined to comment on what type of weapon might have involved in the attack on Ms Feng.


He said the car was owned by a relative of the victim and Ms Feng used to drive it.


But he would not confirm a newspaper report that the vehicle was registered in the name of her husband.


Ms Feng came from China and had lived in New Zealand for some time. She married a New Zealander six years ago.


- NZPA