July 30th 2024.
The New Zealand police have made a significant discovery in their search for Yanfei Bao, who has been missing for over a year. After receiving new information, a large team of officers descended upon a rural property in Greenpark, just south of Christchurch. Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves explained that this development was in relation to the alleged murder of Bao, who was a real estate agent for Harcourts.
On Tuesday, some officers were seen on the farm with shovels, and later in the day, it was announced that a shallow grave had been found along a treeline on the property. However, due to the condition of the remains, they could not be immediately identified. Reeves stated that they would be conducting an excavation and forensic examination to gather more evidence. This news was shared with Bao's family, who have been waiting for answers for a long time. It was a shock to them, even though they had been hoping for some sort of closure.
The area where the remains were found had previously been searched, but the new information led the police back to specific locations of interest. Reeves mentioned that they could not disclose the details of the information for operational reasons. Currently, a thorough scene examination is taking place, and police presence will be visible in the area for some time.
The owner of the Greenpark property, Craig Eggleston, expressed his emotions about the discovery, saying that he felt both relieved and sad. He hoped that this would bring some closure to Bao's family, and he was willing to assist in any way possible. Eggleston recalled that the police had initially visited his property shortly after Bao's disappearance, following a sighting nearby. However, they did not disclose what led them back to the property on Tuesday.
Bao, a Chinese national, went missing on July 19, 2023. She was last seen in Hornby, where she was supposed to meet with a potential client to show them a property. The last contact she had was a call to a friend via the Chinese social media app WeChat, where she inquired about transferring money from China to buy a house. The police later charged 53-year-old Tingjun Cao with her kidnapping and murder. However, the kidnapping charge was later dropped, and Cao is set to stand trial in October.
On the one-year anniversary of Bao's disappearance, Detective Inspector Reeves reiterated the police's commitment to finding her body. She said that the case was on her mind every day. Bao's husband, Paul Gooch, also expressed the family's struggle to cope with the loss and how it had changed their lives forever. He praised their daughter, Momo, for her incredible resilience in the face of adversity. Bao's family in China also shared their grief and hope that the police would find her and bring peace to her soul.
This article was originally published on Stuff.co.nz and has been reproduced here with permission.
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