New Zealand police identify children whose remains were found in suitcases
Police and forensic investigators gather at the scene where suitcases with the remains of two children were found in Auckland
By Tara Subramaniam, CNN
Police in New Zealand have identified two children whose remains were found earlier this month in suitcases bought by a family in an online auction.
In a statement Friday, police confirmed that both children have been identified and their family has requested their names be withheld.
Police launched a homicide investigation after the remains were discovered in South Auckland on August 11.
Earlier this month, Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua said the children were likely to have been between 5 and 10 years old when they died. He said investigators believed they’d been dead for three or four years and the cause of death was unknown.
According to Seoul police, a woman believed to be the mother of the two children was in South Korea as of August 22. South Korean police are cooperating with New Zealand authorities through Interpol.
The storage company that sold the luggage is also helping police with their inquiries into other items that may be linked to the suitcases, police said earlier this month.
Police have stressed that the family who bought the suitcases are not connected to the children’s deaths.
The-CNN-Wire
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