Homicide probe over as ‘body’ found to be lifelike doll
Melissa Meehan and Allanah Sciberras |
A short-lived homicide probe has come to an abrupt end after a suitcase dumped on the side of a remote road was revealed to contain a lifelike doll, rather than human remains.
A major NSW Police operation kicked into gear on Sunday after investigators initially believed the suitcase, found by two members of the public at Oallen about 60km southeast of Goulburn, contained a woman’s body.
But by Monday afternoon, police confirmed the contents were not a woman after all but a human-like doll “wearing clothing” and with hair and a nose piercing.
The item also had markings that resembled bruises and grazes, police said in a statement.
Earlier, Superintendent Linda Bradbury told reporters forensic investigations had confirmed the contents were not human, but she could not say what the suitcase contained.
“We are still undertaking more forensic work to identify what they are,” she told reporters in Goulburn.
“They were mistaken for a human originally, so they are very realistic in the terms of looking like human remains … but we have confirmed they are not.”
When pressed about how the force could make such an error, Supt Bradbury said police followed the correct process of investigating a major crime.
Local officers were careful not to disturb the crime scene and kept the suitcase in its original place until homicide detectives arrived, the senior officer said.
“We followed our processes to the tee, to a high level, and I think there’s no regrets at all,” she said.
“I couldn’t be more proud of my team than I am.”
The suitcase was found by two men who had pulled onto the side of the road by chance.
“They were on a weekend drive as a lot of people do over the weekend and stopped for a break,” Supt Bradbury told Nine’s Today program.
It was unclear how long the suitcase had been at the site, but the find initially led police to trawl through unsolved missing-person cases.
It was found in remote bushland with few properties nearby and hardly any passing traffic.
A crime scene was set up and homicide detectives travelled to the area, which is in the Southern Tablelands region of NSW.
Forensics officers faced challenging conditions on Sunday night as they worked to assess the scene before any potential evidence was washed away by rain.
There would be no further investigations undertaken, police said.
AAP