A woman who could be the mother of two children whose remains were found in two suitcases auctioned in New Zealand is found in South Korea, according to the police.
Last week New Zealand Police announced the discovery of the remains of two boys believed to be five and 10 years old when they died. The bodies were found in Auckland, in a trailer loaded with objects bought by a family at an auction of abandoned goods.
The New Zealand Police said that the bodies had been preserved for several years, which complicates the investigation of the crime.
South Korean authorities said Monday that a South Korean woman believed to be related to the children was currently in South Korea.
South Korean woman naturalized as a New Zealander
Immigration records show the unidentified woman in her 40s arrived in South Korea in 2018, but there has been no record of her leaving since then, said Park Seung-hoon, an official with the National Police Agency in Seoul.
The woman was born in South Korea and later moved to New Zealand, where she obtained citizenship.
So the South Korean police do not currently have the authority to trace the woman’s whereabouts or detain her, since she is a New Zealand citizen, possibly linked to a crime that occurred in New Zealand, Park said.
South Korean Police passed the information on to New Zealand Police after receiving a request for help in the investigation. But he won’t be able to pursue her unless New Zealand officially requests her extradition, which may happen if the investigation progresses to the point where Interpol places a red notice against him, Park said.
In suitcases, for years
New Zealand Police suspect the woman could be the mother of the children found dead, as her previous address in New Zealand was registered in a storage unit where the suitcases were kept for years, according to Park.
So far New Zealand Police have reviewed hours of video footage, but key moments may have been blacked out due to the time between the deaths of the victims and the discovery of the bodies.
“We are doing our best to identify the victims … What I can say is that we are making very good progress with the DNA investigation,” New Zealand Police said on the day of the discovery, adding that it was working with Interpol.
Both the storage unit and the property where the bags were taken have been thoroughly examined by forensic teams.
New Zealand authorities reiterated last week that the family who found the bodies has no connection to the killings and its members are receiving support to deal with the trauma.