Mom of 2 kids found dead in suitcases sought in South Korea

A woman believed to be the mother of two children whose bodies were discovered inside suitcases bought at a storage unit auction in New Zealand this month is being sought in South Korea, police said.

The woman, a Korean-born citizen of New Zealand, arrived in South Korea in 2018 and has no record of leaving since then, a police officer said.

Her whereabouts and whether she arrived in South Korea with other relatives were not immediately known. She has not been named as of Tuesday.

“New Zealand police had requested confirmation whether the person who might be related to a crime case was in South Korea,” the police officer said, adding that given her past address and age, she could be the mother of the kids.

South Korean news station KBS reported that records indicate the woman lived in New Zealand at an address tied to the suitcases for an extended period of time, according to New Zealand Herald.

South Korean police have not yet opened an investigation into the case, but are cooperating with New Zealand authorities through Interpol.

“If the woman is clearly identified as a suspect and an arrest warrant is received, there is a high possibility of an Interpol red notice. We will then proceed with the extradition process,” an official from the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the National Police Agency told reporters in Seoul, according to South Korea’s Hankyoreh newspaper.

The case in New Zealand began unfolding earlier this month after a family from Auckland had purchased the contents of an abandoned storage locker and found children’s bodies inside a pair of suitcases.

The children were between 5 and 10 years old and had been dead for some time — and the suitcases had been in storage for at least three or four years, Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia Vaaelua told reporters in Auckland on Thursday.

Vaaelua said police were making “very good progress with DNA inquiries.”

Police stressed that the family who found the bodies were not connected to the deaths.

With Post wires