The case of human remains being discovered near the Desert Road is now officially a homicide inquiry, police say.
The remains, believed to belong to a Chinese man missing since 2017, were discovered last week in a shallow grave on Rangipo Intake Road near Tongariro.
The Herald revealed this week that police had searched a property on McWhirters Farm Lane in the west Auckland suburb of Massey in connection with the case.
That search was completed this morning, Detective Inspector John Sutton said today.