Family who bought abandoned storage locker discover human remains stuffed in suitcases
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A family in New Zealand has been horrified to find human remains inside suitcases that had been left inside an abandoned storage locker.
The south Auckland family was understood to have discovered corpses inside suitcases after returning home with a trailer-load of items they had won in a storage unit auction.
Auctioning off the contents of abandoned storage units is a common practice if the owner of the items hasn't paid up.
The practice has risen in popularity after it became the topic content for US reality programme Storage Wars, a show that follows savvy bargain hunters on the lookout for trash that may actually be treasure.
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Unfortunately for this Kiwi family, buyers are not allowed to rifle through the contents in depth before the auction, so it really is a lucky dip. Or in this case, extremely unlucky.
NewsHub reports that multiple hearses were spotted leaving the Auckland home shortly after police arrived.
New Zealand Police told media that the family who discovered the bodies are not thought to be involved in the deaths.
According to NewsHub, the grim discovery is being treated as a homicide investigation.
Police are now working to identify the deceased person or persons found in the suitcases so their next of kin could be notified, however that may take time due to the condition of remains.
"The priority for police is to confirm the identification of the deceased so that we can establish the full circumstances behind the discovery," NZ Police spokesperson Anna Thompson said in a statement.
"However, we are still awaiting the completion and results of the post-mortem examination so we are unable to comment."
Neighbours have told reporters that swarms of police have been in and out of their street since the grisly discovery.
The usually quiet Auckland street was blocked off, with eight or so police cars in attendance.
"They just mentioned to me it's a crime scene," a neighbour said, as per the New Zealand Herald.
The man told journalists that a young woman, a man aged in about his 30s, and an 'old' man lived at the property where the bodies were discovered.
Another neighbour told NewsHub: “I feel sorry for the family because they’ve got nothing to do with it. And whoever did do it, come on, front up. It’s a bit unfair, bro. It’s horrific, f***ing scary."
