Police say there were no signs of injury on the body of Jynelle Northover who was found dead at her Hamilton home early Sunday.
Police say there were no signs of injury on the body of Jynelle Northover who was found dead at her Hamilton home early Sunday.
Hamilton police remain baffled as to the cause of death of a 28-year-old woman who died without sign of a single injury.
Waikato police Senior Sergeant Stephen Ambler said a post-mortem examination performed on Jynelle Northover's body at the weekend provided few clues as to how she died.
It did however, confirm it appeared she died from a non-violent death.
"She had no injuries. There's been no violence in relation to her death, not a single injury on her body recorded. There's no apparent reason for her to die."
Emergency services were called to Northover's unit on Aurora Tce just after 2am on Saturday.
Neighbours spoken to by the Herald say they heard little that morning but confirmed it was an area with a large number of students due to Waikato University just a few hundred metres away.
Northover was a qualified embalmer and funeral director and up until about six months ago, had spent about two years working at Hamilton's Simplicity Bereavement Services.
A manager for the company said despite leaving, Northover continued to pop in and see the staff.
A police officer stands guard at the entrance of a right of way on Aurora Tce, Hamilton, after a woman appeared to have died in suspicious circumstances at the weekend. Photo/Belinda Feek
Ambler today said Northover's death will remain suspicious as it wasn't normal for a healthy 28-year-old woman to just drop dead.
"The death remains suspicious for the fact that 28-year-old females generally just don't die without any pre-existing medical conditions or some other outside involvement.
"The post-mortem hasn't been particularly helpful in determining for us how she died and so we just have to continue doing what we're doing and following our investigation process."
That included talking to those who knew her, who had been with and seen her just before her death and waiting for the results of her toxicology report, examining electronics including her cellphone, and talking to people including neighbours.
"We've got a lot to do but none of that really has been helpful at this stage."
As for who was home, Ambler said there were a "couple of people" that police had spoken to and got statements from, but that was normal in any death.
"We're doing an area canvas which is normal and we've identified a few people who know the people involved and there's nothing particularly strange that has come out of any of those inquiries just yet."
Ambler said they would exhaust all their options in the hope they can provide some answers to grieving family.
"With family, we have to make sure that we are able to provide some answers for them in terms of how their loved one died. It's not usual and that's why it remains suspicious but there's nothing overtly identified at this stage to let us know that we're dealing with a homicide or the fact that another person is involved in her death or something else."
Family today posted on Facebook they have taken Northover to Te Papa o Rotu Marae where she will remain until Wednesday when she be farewelled at Rumakamaka Cemetery, Whatawhata, at 11am.
