A horrified maintenance worker discovered two bodies, one feared to be missing actress Tania Ellwood, inside a Grey Lynn boarding house.
As police scoured Dryden Lodge yesterday, the man was too emotionally overwhelmed to speak.
One of the victims is believed to be Ellwood, who has been missing for more than a week after last being seen in Newmarket.
Police would not confirm the identity of the bodies yesterday but said they were aware of speculation.
"However as formal identification has not yet taken place, we are not in a position to comment any further on this."
Formal identification procedures, along with post-mortem examinations, would be carried out today and an update provided after that.
Police were called to Dryden Lodge, which operates as a halfway house for many tenants with drug and alcohol problems, at 3.15pm on Tuesday.
Upon arrival, police found two people dead. Detectives are now working to establish what happened.
Senior Sergeant Glenn Baldwin said police were not looking for anyone in relation to the two deaths.
Yesterday the downstairs level of the Grey Lynn property had been partially cordoned off. Inside the cordon were single bedrooms and a kitchen, resident James Davidson said.
Police were donning face masks and scrubs to enter the cordon. Some residents had been evacuated.
Davidson has lived in the lodge for two years. He told the Herald he woke from an afternoon nap on Tuesday to find police everywhere.
He didn't know the people who had died but said a lot of the lodge residents had alcohol and drug issues.
A room at the lodge costs between $200 and $400 a week, Davidson said.
A woman who works in an office a few doors down said police were often called to the lodge as it was a "colourful area". She wasn't surprised to hear of the double death because of all the drugs around but hoped it wasn't malicious.
"Hopefully it's not a nasty murder."
The landlord said "my tenants have been through a lot" but declined to comment further.
The discovery of the bodies followed a police appeal to the public on Tuesday morning to help find Ellwood, 39, saying they were concerned for her safety.
Ellwood was last seen in Newmarket about 9.30am last Wednesday.
Police described her as being of slim to medium build, 166cm tall, with long blonde hair.
Ellwood is believed to live around the Dominion Rd, Sandringham-Mt Eden area, and her parents are based in Remuera.
She last contacted family at 6pm on February 27, and it was said to be out of character for her not to be in contact.
A family member posted to Facebook on Tuesday saying: "We love you Tania and we will find you."
Ellwood is listed on StarNow as being an actor, hair stylist, makeup artist and fashion stylist. She had a brief stint on Shortland Street where she played a character called Mandy Timmins.
Polkinghorne was sentenced to 150 hours of community work for drug possession.