Police probe unexplained death in Feilding at home of elderly woman and son

• Police are looking into an unexplained death at a Feilding property where a mother and son lived.
• A police car remained outside the Campbell St house overnight, with a scene examination under way.
• Neighbours said the mother and son “kept to themselves” and there were “quite a few cops” present.

Police are continuing to look into an unexplained death at a Feilding property where it’s understood an elderly mother and car-loving son lived who “kept to themselves”.

A police car was stationed outside the house on Campbell St in the Manawatū town of Feilding after a guard was placed on the property yesterday afternoon.

Officers were called to the address about 12.50pm on Tuesday after a person was found dead at the home.

Police said the scene examination began this morning and would continue across the day.

“Police will guard the scene again overnight.”

Neighbour Albert James said an elderly woman and her adult son had lived in the house and were “very quiet”.

He said they had never caused any problems on the street.

“We didn’t see much of her ... they kept to themselves.

“The boy was a bit of a car fanatic, a typical Kiwi lad doing his work on cars in the shed.

“We know that there’s a body but that’s all,” he said.

James said there were about four police vehicles outside the house today with officers investigating inside, but the street was “all quiet”.

“The police were there all day yesterday.”

Death ‘tragic’ for township

Manawatū District Mayor Helen Worboys said it was “tragic” to hear news of the unexplained death.

She said from her understanding it was a younger person who had died.

“It is distressing to hear of a young person’s death,” she said.

“So far it is an unexplained death, no suspicious circumstances at this stage, and they [the police] won’t know more until the autopsy and report has been done later in the week.”

Another neighbour, who lives across the road from the house, said there were “quite a few cops” around yesterday.

“A mother and son live there, they’re pretty quiet, they don’t really cause a lot of issues,” she said.

Another woman living on the street confirmed a mother and son had lived there but they had largely “kept to themselves”.

Police said the death was being treated as unexplained at this time.

“We know the police presence will be unsettling for Campbell St residents. However, we want to reassure them there is no cause for alarm.”

Worboys said it was worrying for the community but they just had to await the outcome of the police process.