Police seek to identify headless skeleton

The skeleton had been discovered by contractors demolishing the property. Photo / Supplied

Police are trawling through missing persons' lists and checking cemeteries for desecrated graves as they try to identify a headless skeleton found in an Auckland garage.

They believe the remains of the man might have been dumped in the vacant garage after the long-time residents moved out last year.

The skeleton was found in September by contractors demolishing the Barrack Rd property in Mt Wellington, now owned by Transpower.

Police said the man was 1.57-1.64m tall, but they do not know much more about him.

An autopsy was performed on October 1, but Detective Senior Sergeant Kevin Hooper said there was no indication of how the man died or if anyone else was involved.

"It's all really up in the air, it's a mystery," he said. "I think it's really important to let people know, somebody could come across a skull."

Mr Hooper said remnants of denim jeans and a size 8 Converse shoe gave police an indication of when the man might have died.

He was unwilling to disclose that information until manufacturers had said when the items were on sale.

"We are also looking to make sure no graves have been desecrated. But that's going to be a bit of a task because there is no centralised point for the information."

He said the matter was a case for the coroner at this stage - but police were keeping an open mind.

Mr Hooper had an idea as to how old the man was but did not want to limit the investigation.

"If we give an age range, it might switch some people off - and we could be wrong. Someone could think 'oh, that's not my missing person'," he said.

Mr Hooper said the main objective was to identify the man and return him to his family. "It would be quite upsetting if it was your loved one. We're going through the missing person reports on the national database. We're well into that process."

A number of people had been interviewed, including the former residents. "According to the [former] occupants, [the remains were] introduced after they left."

* Contact Glen Innes police, phone (09) 524-1910 or CrimeStoppers on 0800 555-111 with information.