Death of woman (82) remains under investigation

AUCKLAND: The grieving soninlaw of a elderly woman found dead in her house where a burglary is believed to have taken place said her body was lying outside a bedroom yesterday.

Forensic police continued to search the house in Avondale where the 82yearold was found dead on Tuesday.

The woman may have had a heart attack after thieves broke into her property, her grieving family believes.

Staff in white overalls and masks could be seen yesterday scouring through various items being bagged and brought out on to the front yard of the St Georges Rd house.

Police continued to treat her death as unexplained, Auckland City West CIB Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Franich said.

Police were awaiting results from a postmortem examination which was expected to be carried out today.

‘‘Police have previously said there had been a burglary at the address but we still do not have any evidence to link the burglary and death of this woman at this time.

‘‘However, we are keeping an open mind as our investigation continues.’’

The woman’s soninlaw told Stuff she was in good health and her death remained a mystery.

Her body was lying outside a bedroom and contents from the house were strewn over the floor.

‘‘It’s not a good scene, man,’’ said the soninlaw, who would only be identified as ‘‘Mr Ram’’.

He believed an intruder had broken into the home on Tuesday afternoon and the woman — who came to New Zealand in 2006 — is believed to have died shortly after.

It was unclear whether the woman was attacked or when her body would be released.

A neighbour told The New Zealand Herald the woman lived at the house with relatives but was frail and could not move about easily.

She would spend time at home alone when other family members were at work.

The neighbour said the family were social and would visit other residents on the street to hand out sweets on Indian festivals such as Navaratri and Diwali. — The New Zealand Herald