Suitcase dumped in NSW bushland did not contain human remains, police confirm

A suitcase found dumped on the side of a road in rural NSW does not contain human remains but was instead stuffed with what is believed to be a life-like doll, police say.

The discovery on Sunday of what was initially suspected to be the remains of a woman at Oallen, about 50 kilometres south of Goulburn, sparked a homicide investigation, but that was abandoned on Monday morning after further examination of the luggage.

Police initially believed woman’s body was in a state of decomposition and were working to match the suspected remains with outstanding missing persons cases. They said the object was mistaken for human remains because of its human likeness, including hair.

“They are very realistic in the terms of looking like human remains, but we’ve confirmed by other means that they are not,” Superintendent Linda Bradbury said.

The suitcase was discovered by two men who had stopped on the side of Wolgon Road, about 1pm on Sunday.

“The members of the public did initially think that they’d come across human remains,” Bradbury said.

“They made the right decision, thought that it was something suspicious, and gave us a call straight away.”

Identification of the suitcase’s contents was delayed by heavy rainfall throughout Sunday and officers’ attempts to preserve any forensic evidence on the luggage.

“We don’t necessarily like to disturb crime scenes because that’s our links to making sure that offenders are brought before the court,” Bradbury said, praising the work of officers she said followed procedure “to a tee”.

Police were working to determine how long the suitcase had been on the side of the road and who had dumped it, Bradbury said.

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