The homicide investigation into the two primary school-aged children found in suitcases at a Clendon Park property has expanded to South Korea. Video / NZ Herald
Warning: Graphic content.
Police backed a bid to suppress the identities of two children found dead inside suitcases in Auckland - citing the potential risk of jeopardising their investigation which was at a "critical stage".
The remains of the two school-aged children were found inside suitcases that were unwittingly bought as part of an auction for abandoned goods at an Auckland storage unit.
The remains were discovered after the people who won the auction took the suitcases back to their Manurewa home.
Last week the Coroner's office suppressed the identities of the two children before police said on Friday they had formally identified them.
Coroner Tania Tetitaha's minutes released to the Herald show the basis for the non-publication order, sought by the children's wider family, was to prevent public speculation of the wider family's involvement in the children's deaths.
Police also supported the application after being approached by Coroner Tetihaha, who is Whangārei-based, the documents show.
"[The police] advise ... they are at a critical part of their investigation and any release of information may jeopardise the ongoing investigation," one minute reads, citing a police email dated August 22.
The police investigation – launched after the remains were found on August 11– has seen Interpol notified, and police in South Korea also contacted, in a bid to find the dead children's mother who is believed to be in South Korea.
Last week, Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor Daniel Newman said the case had had a huge impact on those living in the area, and he said he felt hugely for the innocent family who had made the find.
"This has been a harrowing episode that has brought intrigue and questions upon an innocent family and the Clendon community where they live.
"The residents of Moncrieff Ave are innocent and they are unwitting victims too."
In the days after the remains were discovered, detective inspector Tofilau Faamanuia confirmed the bodies were primary school-aged, as ascertained by the post-mortem report.
Early indications were that the children could have been deceased for a number of years before being found, he told journalists.
The bodies were discovered by a family who had purchased the contents of a storage container. Photo / Dean Purcell
Police were following "positive lines of inquiry" in terms of the storage unit rental, Vaaelua said.
He said the children were aged between 5 and 10 and police were working on establishing when and where they died.
"We are doing our very best to conclude the inquiry and figure out what happened to these young children.
