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Dad of 2 children whose remains were STUFFED in suitcases died before their disappearance as cops track mom to ASIA

'We've commenced inquiries with overseas agencies. I cannot state any further than that,' Detective Vaaelua said, after stating the family was living in Asia

Update: The father of the two young children whose bodies were discovered stuffed in suitcases had reportedly died before their disappearance. In case of their mother, the police investigation into the case – launched after the grisly find on August 11 has discovered that the dead children's mum is believed to be in South Korea.

Police have now formally identified both the young victims, but will not release further information – including the names of the children or their relatives – due to the Coroner issuing an interim non-publication order which suppresses evidence of the identities of the children at the request of their family.

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SOUTH AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND: The family of the two dead children found inside suitcases purchased in an auction has reportedly been living in Asia. The police has not shared the identity of the family.

As soon as it was found that the dead school children's relatives were in Asia, the MaiOnline reported that New Zealand police began working with Interpol to make progress in their homicide investigation. During a Thursday, August 18, media conference, Detective Inspector Tofilau Faamanuia claimed that the ages of the two children were between five and 10 years old. Detective reportedly Vaaelua said: “We've commenced inquiries with overseas agencies. I cannot state any further than that.”

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He also added, “The nature of this discovery provides some complexities to the investigation especially given the time lapsed between the time of death and the time of discovery. A lot of us (in the police) are parents and we have a job to do and we're doing our very best to identify the victims. What I can say is we are making very good progress with DNA inquiries. The investigation team is working very hard to hold accountable the person or persons responsible for the death of these children.”

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the family who got the two suitcases via the auction are in no way related to the dead people and also to their deaths. They live in the south Auckland suburb of Manurewa, New Zealand and reportedly got the suitcases home from a storage locker at Safe Store Papatoetoe on August 11. They opened the suitcases on their front yard but immediately after making the shocking discovery, informed law enforcement. A director of storage company Safe Store Ltd also said: “We won't say anything because it is under police investigation, and we are cooperating with police.”

The family has apparently left their property because of "too much" media attention. ‘In the Loop’ podcast host Cheree Kinnear said that initially it was thought that it was a case of domestic violence. In the podcast, Kinnear explained: “At least two hearses had pulled up as well. We were still unclear as to what had happened. We thought it had something to do with the people living at the house. The rumour that went around was perhaps there was a domestic issue. We knew there had been a body, maybe it had been a murder.”

On Thursday, August 18, Inspector Vaaelua said, “We're still on a fact-finding mission and we still have a lot of unanswered questions. I really feel for the family of these victims, there are relatives out there that aren't aware that their loved ones are deceased, especially two young children. When you are confronted with situations such as this one you can never forget it, you can never unsee it.”

A lot of people have expressed their shock over the astonishing incident. A user tweeted, “Omg that’s horrific, what a terrible thing to do to children, poor wee souls may they rest in peace ❤️❤️.” The second one wrote: “Odd that the storage company didn't check the suitcases before putting them to auction.” “Yep I find it strange no one looked in the suitcases prior to going to auction have the remains just been put there that’s where I’d be looking more close to home, you would know when moving them something was inside,” the third one added.