An ordinary Friday turned into a "shocking tragedy" for a West Auckland woman who returned home from work to find her mother dead - possibly murdered during a botched burglary - in their family home.
The woman and her husband went to work as usual at about 9am. When they returned home just after 5pm they found Cun Xiu Tian dead in their Te Atatu home.
Mrs Tian had been attacked sometime during the day and her body lay in the house until her family made the grisly discovery.
Emergency services converged on the street. The daughter and her husband were taken away in an ambulance, overwhelmed by shock.
She told the Herald on Sunday that police said Mrs Tian's death was the result of "a robbery gone wrong".
Yesterday officers in forensic suits worked behind the cordon, which was manned by armed police, trying to piece together what happened at the house.
Mrs Tian's body was removed and taken to the Auckland City Hospital mortuary where a post-mortem examination was carried out last night.
Detective Senior Sergeant Roger Small gave little away about the specifics of Mrs Tian's death.
He would not be drawn on where in the house her body was found, what injuries she suffered, her cause of death or whether a weapon was used and if so whether it had been recovered.
Mr Small said it was too early to speculate on the motivation behind the attack on Mrs Tian.
Police were working to establish her movements and whether anything was missing from the property.
"It is too early to speculate on what may or may not have happened," he said. "We are keeping an open mind."
Mr Small said police could not solve the mystery of Mrs Tian's death on their own.
He said the community had provided police with valuable information already and he encouraged anyone else who could help track down the killer to come forward.
"We are asking residents, particularly in the areas surrounding Glenvil Lane who saw any people or vehicles in the area on Friday to come forward. Even if you don't think it was anything out of the ordinary, we still want to hear from you.
"We are also asking for residents in the area who may have private CCTV systems to please check their surveillance for any unusual activity in their own properties or for movements of interest and please contact police."
Mr Small said the attack on Mrs Tian was isolated and there was no evidence anyone else was at risk.
Mrs Tian's family are "devastated" and did not want to speak about her death yesterday. Residents of Glenvil Rd were shocked by the incident.
Most were alerted to something happening when police, fire and ambulance vehicles roared into the street. The Eagle helicopter was also hovering as armed police and dog handlers responded.
Steven Columbus said he was surprised to hear of the death.