Human remains found at Ōwhiro Bay, Wellington property are centuries old

Human remains discovered in a Wellington man’s garden have been found to be hundreds of years old.

Police launched an investigation after a homeowner on Happy Valley Rd in Ōwhiro Bay found the remains while gardening one weekend in June last year.

Now police have shared that, following radiocarbon dating, the remains are thought to be from the 1600s-1700s and are “possibly pre-European”.

Detective Constable Sarah Steed said police would consult with local iwi to arrange a burial site once the remains have been released by the coroner.

At the time of the discovery, neighbours spotted police forensics team at the South Coast property, with police later confirming the “partial remains” were human.

The property used to be a thoroughfare to the community garden behind the section.

It was previously owned by the late community leader Robert “Bruce” Te Whare, with neighbours saying it operated as a grassroots emergency housing facility.

One neighbour, former broadcaster Polly Gillespie, spoke of her shock at the discovery.

“People are just a bit sort of like gobsmacked by it,” the former radio host said at the time.

“People were wondering ‘what on earth?’ when the police were there, apparently people were wondering what was being dug up, was it treasure? Was it money? Was it drugs? I don’t think anybody really suspected a human being,” she said.

Police said the information would be supplied to the coroner for consideration.

It is not the first time human remains have caused a stir in the Wellington region.

In early 2024, human remains were found in dense bush uphill from a Porirua walking track. They were later confirmed to belong to Patricia Burt, who had disappeared 36 years earlier from a mental hospital.

Further back in 2022, the discovery of a human skull at a Wadestown property caused a stir among locals. It was eventually revealed the skull, buried about 100 years earlier, was likely an old medical specimen such as those once found in doctor’s offices and dental clinics, or even school classrooms.