The 36-year-old man caught a flight to China with two young boys, ages 4 and 6, around 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, local time (7:30 p.m. ET Monday). Less than 24 hours later, on Wednesday morning, police found a woman stuffed inside a freezer at an apartment in the suburb of Pymble in Sydney. NSW Homicide Squad Commander Scott Cook said police were “taken aback” by the crime scene.
###
Although NSW police haven’t officially identified the woman, CNN affiliate 7News said that she was a Chinese national believed to be in her late 30s who had been married to the man being questioned.
###
The two young boys are believed to be their sons. They are “safe and well,” according to Cook.
###
In a statement Thursday, police said that they had gone to the Sydney property on Wednesday after a neighbor raised concerns over the welfare of those inside.
###
Police had to break into the apartment and, once they entered, they found the body in the freezer. They said a full postmortem examination would be completed by the end of the week and they could not yet say how the woman had died.
###
“What’s unusual about this case is the transnational nature of it. We’re seeing this more and more with matters that we investigate,” Cook said.
###
He added that Australian police were liaising “with the Chinese Ministry for Public Security and the Chinese Consulate in Australia and we’re getting assistance, exceptional assistance.”