00:02About 2.30pm yesterday police were called to bushland adjacent to Avian Crescent at Lane Cove in relation to a
00:09suspicious item.
00:11On arrival police located a sofa style storage couch and within that couch were human remains.
00:18A forensic examination later identified those human remains to be the torso of an adult male person.
00:27Those remains have been conveyed to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Lickham for further examination.
00:34Strikeforce Nouveau has been established and we are working closely with the Homicide Squad, Region Resources and Specialist Areas of
00:41the New South Wales Police Force to investigate this matter.
00:45We are working around the clock to identify this male and determine what has led to his death and the
00:50disposal of his remains.
00:53I'm happy to take questions.
00:54How long do you think the remains were there?
00:58That's yet to be determined with forensic examination and post morning but there were some signs of being there for
01:06at least a couple of days.
01:07Can you explain to us how they were located?
01:10We received information from the public in relation to the suspicious item.
01:15Was there a smell?
01:18Yeah, there were suspicious.
01:19Sorry, there was a smell.
01:24They were local residents.
01:26Do you know anything about the age of the victim?
01:29No, that's yet to be determined.
01:31Are you going for a missing persons list?
01:33Yes, we're working closely with the missing persons registry.
01:36As I said, we have the Homicide Squad assisting as well as regional resources to try and identify this person.
01:41Have there been any leads as to the other remains, the rest of the age?
01:47Not at this stage.
01:49I know it's obviously quite good in details but was it just the torso or what sort of part of
01:56the torso?
01:56So the remains were a torso.
01:59They were devoid of head, arms and legs.
02:03Head and legs.
02:07And then how confronting was that for officers when they got to the scene to see that in a social
02:13event?
02:15Well, unfortunately, these situations are confronting but our officers are highly trained and we wrap support around those officers.
02:22So I'm more concerned for the relatives and the family of the victim and that's why we're working around the
02:27clock to try and identify this person to inform them of the death of their loved one.
02:32Do you know if the sofa was there before the body was placed there?
02:35No, not at this stage.
02:37And how far into bushland was the sofa?
02:40It was probably about five metres off the roadway.
02:44It's a very, very quiet street in Lane Cove, an area that has probably nil crime rate.
02:53So it's a very unusual activity.
02:56Have any residents reported seeing that sofa before the discovery of the water?
03:01Well, at this stage we are seeking information from any resident in the last couple of weeks that may have
03:07seen that sofa or anything suspicious in that area to contact Crime Stoppers on 1-800-333-000.
03:15What's the stage once the sofa is in?
03:18Did it look like it didn't close to the sofa itself in a while?
03:23I'm not aware of the status of the sofa.
03:25So do you believe maybe the person was the sofa going to go to the table or...?
03:30As I said, the torso didn't have a head, legs or arms.
03:36And we heard that there's some council workers that were mowing the grass near that area earlier yesterday.
03:45Did they detect anything when they were here?
03:48We've received a number of reports from members of the public in relation to the odour and the suspicious item
03:55and that's how we came to be there.
03:56How do the police then now go about trying to track down the rest of the remains?
04:02What does the investigation find now?
04:03Well, we have a number of resources in that area at the moment.
04:06The police air wing, we have a cadaver dog.
04:09We're doing a line search and we will leave no stone unturned to try and resolve this to a satisfaction
04:17manner.
04:18We saw some pictures of some officers perhaps yesterday going into the water.
04:21I know there's some water nearby.
04:23Is that the area you guys are also looking at?
04:25This does back onto the Lane Cove River but I'm not aware that at the stage that police entered the
04:30water yesterday.
04:31Did the torso show any signs of animal interference?
04:35I'm not aware of that, unfortunately.
04:37And were there any injuries other than the decarptation?
04:40Any injuries to the name?
04:42Well, that will be determined through a forensic examination and the autopsy which will be undertaken in the coming days.
04:49Obviously the incident has taken place in a very quiet sort of area, as you'd say, an area with nil
04:55crime rate.
04:56Can you sort of speak to how crimes like this, you know, of such a sort of grotesque nature can
05:00affect the local community?
05:02Well, obviously it's distressing to the local community and I want to reassure them that I'm confident they're not under
05:08any threat.
05:10There's no indication that this person met foul play within the area of Lane Cove.
05:16But as I said, it's the very early stages of the investigation and we are still undertaking numerous and comprehensive
05:23inquiries.
05:24How long do you anticipate the police activity to be around the local area?
05:33Well, we are conducting forensic and other examinations and I would think it's going to take as long as it
05:40takes.
05:40And if that's a couple of days, then the crime scene will be held until then.
05:44Once you get an idea of how long the body has been there, will you be canvassing the CCTV?
05:51Oh yeah, we're already undertaking that and that's why I'm asking anyone that if they check their CCTV,
05:57if they check their dash cam on the vehicles that may have been parked in and around that area
06:01and if they have anything that might provide us the smallest snippet of evidence if they can contact Crime Stoppers.
06:07Do you know the colour of the couch, just in case, I don't know, someone might have seen it on
06:11the hot car?
06:11I'm not aware of the colour of the couch at this time.
06:14Okay, thank you everyone. Thank you.
