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The mother of two children who were found dead in suitcases in New Zealand has been charged with their murder, according to reports.
New Zealand police launched a homicide investigation in Auckland on August 11 after the remains of children were found by a family going through the contents of a storage unit that it had bought unseen at an online auction.
The 42-year-old mother was charged with the murders of the two children when she appeared in court in New Zealand on Wednesday after being extradited from South Korea, Sky News reported. She was not required to enter a plea during the hearing at Manukau District Court in Auckland.
The court has issued an order barring publication of the name of the woman, the children and other details about the case.
The children were aged between five and 10 when they died, investigators said, and it is believed that their bodies had been in the storage locker for at least three or four years.
The woman has previously denied the allegations when she briefly appeared in public during transit to Seoul. In response to questions, the woman said: "I didn't do it," according to The Guardian newspaper.
New Zealand police had previously told South Korean counterparts that the suspect may be living in the Asian country and had requested her provisional arrest as part of an extradition process, South Korea's National Police Agency and Justice Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
South Korean authorities detained the woman in the southeastern city of Ulsan. South Korean police determined that the mother was born in South Korea but later moved to New Zealand, where she gained citizenship. She returned to Gangnam in Seoul, South Korea in 2018, immigration records show.
The statement from the Justice Ministry and National Police Agency did not reveal whether the suspect was the mother of the children. It said Korean authorities surrendered the suspect for extradition to New Zealand on the evening of November 28. Extradition of fugitives usually take longer in South Korea, although in this case it only took three months.
Investigators have stressed that the family who discovered the bodies has nothing to do with the deaths.
"With the extradition, we hope that the truth of the case, which has garnered worldwide attention, will be revealed," the South Korean Justice Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Newsweek has contacted the New Zealand police for comment.
About the writer
Jack Dutton is a Newsweek Reporter based in Cape Town, South Africa. His focus is reporting on global politics and ... Read more