A woman believed to be a relative of the two children whose remains were found in suitcases auctioned in New Zealand is in South Korea, Seoul police told AFP on Monday.
• Read also: New Zealand: the remains of two children found in suitcases sold at auction
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Last week, the New Zealand police announced that they had discovered the bodies of two children aged between five and ten in suitcases.
It took, for this macabre discovery, that a family buys a trailer loaded with objects sold in bulk in a warehouse.
According to the New Zealand police, the bodies had probably been kept for several years, making the investigation difficult.
South Korean police said on Monday that the ethnic Korean woman, believed to be a relative of the children, is currently in South Korea.
“We confirm that she is in South Korea and that she is a New Zealand national of Korean descent,” a South Korean police official told AFP.
She arrived in South Korea in 2018 and there is no indication that she has left the territory since then, he added.
“New Zealand Police are leading this investigation and we intend to cooperate with their request,” the official added.
Police are reviewing hours of surveillance footage, but key moments may have been erased due to the long delay between the death and the discovery of the bodies.
The warehouse and the property where the suitcases were taken were thoroughly examined by the scientific police.
New Zealand authorities reiterated last week that the family behind the grisly discovery are not linked to the deaths of the two children and may have received help to cope with the trauma.