Gulf Harbour body in bag: One week on, from find of dead woman inside bag in the sea

Investigators are hunting for fresh leads into the death of a woman whose body washed into Auckland’s Gulf Harbour, with the nearby marina management saying it has not been able to help.

It has now been one week since a retired fisherman discovered the woman’s remains wrapped in plastic in waters near the Gulf Harbour Marina on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula.

The marina’s manager Murray Dixon said investigators hadn’t yet spoken to his team.

However, he said he is not able to shed any more light on the mystery anyway.

His team didn’t have any fresh information to give investigators, he said, noting the body had been found outside the the marina’s property.

Police have confirmed the woman was wearing a singlet and pyjamas, was small-statured and Asian, possibly Chinese.

But they have not said who she is.

One week on, that’s left many questions unanswered, such as who is the woman, who dumped her body, and why has no one noticed she is missing.

Fisherman Paul Middleton hands over his lure to police after finding human remains wrapped in plastic bags. Photo / RNZ / Nick Monro

Retiree Paul Middleton first found the body on March 12.

Speaking to media shortly after, he said he had travelled to Whangaparāoa hoping to reel in kahawai or snapper.

Then he noticed a bag in the water.

Eventually hooking and reeling it in, he dragged the bag onto the rocks.

“I took the hook out and thought, ‘Right, let’s see if it’s a bag of rubbish and I need to dump it in a rubbish bin or something’,” he told RNZ.

He struggled through “layer and layer” of plastic to open the bag.

There was “a bit of clothing... and then there was this hand sticking out”.

He stopped what he was doing and called 111.

Acting Detective Inspector Tim Williams speaks to media about the grisly find. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Police soon released a statement about Middleton’s discovery.

Four days later police released new details.

“We have established the victim is a female, small in stature, who we believe is to be middle-aged,” acting detective inspector Tim Williams said.

Police investigating the death of an Asian woman whose body was found at Gulf Harbour have released this image of the pyjama pants she was wearing when found. Photo / NZ Police

Branding on a singlet found on the Asian woman's body. Photo / NZ Police

He also released photos of clothing worn by the woman, blue pyjama pants with a distinct pattern on them, and a branded singlet.

“We hope that in releasing these images that someone will come forward with information on who this victim might be,” he said.

“She could be somebody’s mother, sister or even grandmother.”

He said the priority for police at the time had been to identify the woman and contact her next of kin.

Police have asked anyone with information to call 0800 755 021.