Has Serial Killer Who Stuffed Mangled Human Remains Into Luggage Already Fled New Zealand?

The search for the New Zealand resident who owned the suitcases full of dismembered human remains which were found in a storage unit auction on Monday continues, with a theory going around that the man may have already left the country.

The human remains were first found after a family, who acquired the luggage during a storage unit auction, opened one of the bags to find the remains. They called the police, who confirmed to the press that the investigation is open and that the bodies are in the process of being identified, according to the BBC.

Many are looking into who the killer might be, with the police focused on finding out the bodies’ identities as well as the renter of the abandoned storage unit from which the suitcases came from, but the local authorities have largely kept details away from the public, the Daily Beast reported.

Ex-police crisis negotiator Lance Burdett, however, says that while there is a chance that the culprit of the crimes may be caught by the police, depending on the timeframe, the killer may have already left the country, the New Zealand Herald reported.

“It's a small country. We have very few unsolved homicides, we have a handful of them, you can count them. So I'm quite hopeful,” he said. “But again, you leave a trail...somebody will brag.”

Burdett, who was a police officer for 22 years, also expressed sympathy to the New Zealand authorities who are dealing with the high-profile investigation, while also recommending potential strategies that they could follow in the future.

“It's all about finding who is responsible. When you have something like this, the number one goal is to find who's responsible and it just motivates you - it's used as a motivation rather than a negative: ‘We must find who is responsible’,” he said.

“There are some good lines of inquiry. Things like this, when you leave evidence - the more evidence left, the greater the ability [to solve the case],” he continued. “Things will turn up - people always want to help in these cases. Somebody will remember something.”