Remains of 2 school-aged children found in 2 suitcases bought at auction

The remains of two school-aged children were found in two suitcases bought at a recent auction in Auckland, New Zealand, authorities said Thursday.

Police in the South Auckland suburb of Manurewa were first alerted to the case on Aug. 11, after a family reported that human remains had been found in a pair of suitcases they had just purchased at a storage facility.

On Thursday, Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua provided an update on the investigation.

New Zealand police investigators work at a scene in Auckland on Aug. 11, 2022, after bodies were discovered in suitcases. (Dean Purcell/)

“Today’s update will be extremely upsetting news for the community to hear,” Vaaelua told reporters in a press conference, confirming that the remains were those of two young kids.

“Initial post-mortem examinations have been carried out and the results show that the remains found in two suitcases are that of two primary school-aged children,” he said.

Police are still trying to determine their age, but they were believed to have been aged between 5 and 10 when they died.

“Their bodies were concealed into suitcases of similar size,” Vaaelua said, adding that it appears that the young victims had been dead “for a number of years before being found last week.”

A family who bought some abandoned goods from a storage unit in an online auction found the bodies of two young children concealed in two suitcases, police said Thursday. (Dean Purcell/)

Investigators are still finalizing “formal identification procedures,” and the next of kin will be contacted after the process is completed.

“We want to reassure the community our investigation is continuing to establish the facts to ascertain the full circumstances around the deaths of these children,” he said. “This includes establishing when, where, and how.”

The people who bought the suitcases “are not connected to [the children’s] deaths,” Vaaelua said, adding that they are “understandably distressed by the discovery,” and that authorities are “ensuring there is support in place for them.”

The active homicide investigation is ongoing, and police are not able to comment on any specifics. But Vaaelua said that “we are continuing to treat this matter very seriously and we are determined to hold the person, or persons, responsible for the deaths of these children to account.”