Body found at Xue family home

Fairfax Media

The body of an Asian woman has been found in the boot of a car parked outside the Auckland home of magazine publisher Nai Yin Xue who abandoned his three-year-old daughter at an Australian railway station.
Video: Police reveal body found in car
Audio: Police announce discovery of a body in car boot
Audio: Police answer questions from the media

The body was discovered about 1.30pm today and has not been formally identified.

The car, sign written with the words "Chinese News", is owned by Xue. Its warrant of fitness and registration had expired and the car did not appear to have moved for some time.

It had been sitting outside the house for several days as journalists and police walked around it but was removed early this morning.

Police defended their decision not to make an earlier search of the car, which had been unsecured outside the Keystone Ave address.

"We had to get a search warrant for the house and a search warrant for the car that was on the road outside the address. That process took until about 9pm last night," Mr Scott said.

"We wanted to get the vehicle to a location where we could secure it and examine it properly. We've had staff examine that vehicle today. We haven't had the keys to that vehicle, it's just not a matter of breaking the windows and getting in.

"I'm satisfied my staff have done an excellent job taking their time and we're hoping that the examination of that vehicle is going to reveal evidence as to how that person who is in that vehicle has met their death."

Mr Scott said police and Environmental Science and Research scientists are carrying out a forensic examination of the vehicle, while the body remains in the boot.

It would be removed and an autopsy carried out once the examination had been completed.

"There's a lot of work to do to ensure we preserve as much forensic evidence pertaining to the woman's death as possible," he said.

"We won't be rushed into doing anything and will take the utmost care with a key item in what is now most definitely a homicide investigation."

Police had informed the mother of missing woman Anan Liu in China of the discovery.

They would also like to speak with Mr Xue, who is believed to be in the United States.

Mr Scott and Detective Inspector David Pearson said police were working with Interpol to find Mr Xue in the United States.

However, a Los Angeles police spokesman told TV3 that no warrant had been issued from Interpol for them to start looking for Mr Xue.

Gathering information about Anan Liu's activities since last seen was now even important.

A sighting of Anan Liu collecting her three-year-old daughter Qian Xun from a Balmoral child care centre at 4.35pm was not the last official sighting of her, he said.

Police extended their crime scene cordon this afternoon to include the footpath and grass verge outside the house where the car had been parked.

Grace, the missing older daughter of the runaway father Mr Xue, has come forward.

Earlier today police said they had received a call from the 20-year-old daughter.

"She is being very co-operative and is safe and well and lives in New Zealand. We don't have any concerns for her safety and will respect her wishes that she not be subjected to any publicity," Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott said.

"We will speak to her again today as part of our profiling inquiries around Mr Xue.

Police said they had an unconfirmed sighting of Anan in the Auckland suburb of Balmoral on Tuesday, September 11.

The reported sighting was notified to Police via the Operation Patch 0800 number - 0800 272 824.

Her bank account had not been touched for 10 days.

HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

Police were also appealing for information from anyone who may have seen Ms Liu's car, a white Honda, registration number DJZ805 between 10am and 4pm last Thursday.

Friends of Mr Xue said he had appeared depressed in the lead-up to his decision to take Qian to Melbourne on Thursday.

Hours earlier Mr Xue, accompanied by Qian, had visited the Henderson police station where he reportedly picked up his passort and a confiscated sword at the station.

Police said yesterday that Anan had suffered violence from Mr Xue, who was convicted of assaulting her in June. He was later charged with breaching a protection order but the charge was dismissed.

National MP Pansy Wong, who had met Mr Xue socially, said she was aware he had complained about relationship and financial problems.

"Mr Xue was heard talking about there was not much point going on".

Police in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States, as well as Interpol and Child Youth and Family Service are involved in the search.

Mr Xue was widely known among Auckland's Chinese community, but as police last night sealed off the Xue's Mt Roskill house, details emerged of a more troubled side to his personality - fraught with financial and relationship troubles.

Mrs Liu had moved to Wellington with her daughter, living in Johnsonville for about five weeks.

It is understood Mr Xue came to Wellington to collect them about a month ago and they returned to Auckland.

Mr Xue and his daughter had flown from Auckland to Melbourne on Thursday.

Mr Scott said there was security camera footage of the pair at the Auckland airport carpark at 3.53pm that day and at Henderson Police Station at 9.20am that morning.

It has also been revealed that Mr Xue owed money to Auckland publisher Matthew Horton, whose company printed the Chinese Times.

"He does owe us a not immaterial amount of money – tens of thousands," Mr Horton told TV3.

A hearing in Melbourne to decide where Qian Xun would be cared for was called off today and she will remain with a foster family for at least three weeks by court order.

Her grandparents are likely to seek custody of her.

Ethnic Affairs Minister Chris Carter said the Government would consider assistance to her family to travel from China.

"Her grandparents are going through a terrible time and we would want to do what we can to help."

National MP Pansy Wong told Radio New Zealand she was assisting efforts to get Ms Liu's mother to New Zealand and reunited with her grand daughter Qian.

"Her priority is to come to this part of the world. First of all she wants to unite with Qian Xun and also wants to be really in the midst of knowing what is happening of finding her missing daughter," Ms Wong said.

"The positive news I discovered when I talked to her is that grandmother and granddaugther share a very close bond."

Ms Wong said Qian had spent time every year with her grandparents in China, including from November to February last year.

Ms Wong said she was trying to find the best way for the grandmother to be reunited with Qian as soon as possible.

- With NZPA

Click on the audio player to activate then click play to listen to the police announcement on the body found in the boot of a car belonging to Nai Yin Xue.

Click on the audio player to activate then click play to listen to Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott answer questions from the media on the discovery of the body.

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