“I just sort of froze, and felt sick,” she said.
“I could see it was definitely the shape of a torso, face down, and I could tell it was a woman’s figure. I could see it had fingernails and the toes were really realistic, so it really looked like a human figure.”
Sadie did not seem overly concerned – but Cowdrey was “freaking out” after realising it had no head, so she ran down the beach to get reception and dialled 111.
As she waited for police to arrive, she began worrying there could be “a murderer on the loose”.
The three officers who responded were also convinced it was real when they first saw it, she said.
“And then I sort of saw one of the cops nudge it with his foot, and I thought, he’s not going to nudge it if it’s a body.
“And then he sort of flipped it over, and it was even more realistic when it was on its back, it had everything... it was very realistic... but obviously you could tell it was a sex doll.”
Cowdrey said she was relieved, but felt bad she had called police about a sex doll, although they reassured her she had done the right thing.
It took all three officers to drag it back down the beach to their car, such was its weight, she said.
As for how a headless sex doll came to be lying on a quiet Taranaki beach, Cowdrey said she had more questions than answers.
Some online research showed a doll like that was worth thousands of dollars, she said.
“It’s quite a major investment for somebody... it could have been stolen, somebody’s not just going to chuck it on the beach and leave it there.”
The police declined to comment, saying they were prioritising “urgent incidents”.
- RNZ
