'How do we tell little Pumpkin?'

AN international murder hunt is under way after a woman believed to be the mother of abandoned toddler Pumpkin was found dead in the boot of her fugitive hu*****and's car.

Police said the body of an Asian woman was in the car belonging to Naiyin Xue, whose wife Anan "Annie" Liu, 27, has been missing for nine days.

"We'd very much like to speak with Mr Xue, who we believe is in the USA," said Det-Sen Sgt Simon Scott, head of a taskforce trying to unravel the trans-Pacific mystery.

"This is now a homicide investigation. We have a body and he is a person we need to speak to."

The car had stood outside the Xue family home in Auckland's Mt Roskill for several days, including while police searched inside the house for clues.

New Zealand police are working with authorities in Los Angeles, where Mr Xue, 54, is believed to have fled.

The dramatic find is another twist in a mystery that sprang to international attention after three-year-old Qian Xun Xue - dubbed Pumpkin - was dumped by her father at Melbourne's Southern Cross Station last weekend.

Pumpkin's maternal grandmother wants to take the toddler back to China. Her missing half-sister, Grace, 27, surfaced in Auckland and gave police details about her fugitive father.

The missing mum was revealed to have joined an internet dating site in the months before she disappeared.

Granny Liu Xiao Ping was shattered by news the body had been found and wants to take Pumpkin home to Changsha in China.

"No matter what has happened to Anan we must have Qian Xun back," she said from China through an interpreter.

"My hu*****and and my family, we want her to grow healthy. That is our biggest wish."

The identity of the body in the boot is expected to be confirmed as Ms Liu in an autopsy today.

The gruesome find was made about 1pm yesterday after the car was removed from outside the Mt Roskill house.

The Honda, with an expired registration, had been parked in front of the family home in Keystone Ave since last week.

Police said it had not been used for some time.

Ms Liu was last seen collecting Qian from the Wiremu Childcare Centre, in the Auckland suburb of Balmoral, at 4.35pm on Tuesday last week.

She had not touched her bank account since the day before and calls to her mobile phone went unanswered.

A teacher at the centre, Sudhe, last night told the Herald Sun Qian had been enrolled since August 27.

"She was a wonderful girl, calm-going and fabulous," Sudhe said. "She was a wonderful child."

Police confirmed Mr Xue bought airline tickets to Melbourne last Wednesday.

He collected a ceremonial sword and his passport from a local police station the next day and arrived in Melbourne that night.

The items had been seized after a reported domestic violence incident.

Police defended their decision not to search Mr Xue's car earlier.

"We had to get a search warrant for the house and a search warrant for the car on the road outside the address. That process took until about 9pm last night," Det-Sen Sgt Scott said.

The car was now the focus of the investigation.

"There's a lot of work to do to ensure we preserve as much forensic evidence pertaining to the woman's death as possible, Det-Sen Sgt Scott said.

A neighbour told of a loud fight between the couple the day before Ms Liu vanished.

"I thought it (sounded like) a violent relationship going on and they're having a real pow-wow," Stephanie Pedersen said.

Grace, Ms Xue's 27-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, yesterday contacted police.

Her welfare was the subject of intense speculation after it emerged her father gave a bizarre interview about their failed relationship to a university film student.

Grace is helping police build a profile of Mr Xue.

A family friend, who did not want to be identified, said she believed Ms Liu married Mr Xue to gain NZ residency.

The young mother and little Qian spent one month in a women's refuge, the Shakti Asian Women's Support Group, last year.

But she left the refuge saying she intended to fly to China.

Pansy Wong, the NZ National Party's associate immigration spokeswoman and a family friend, said Qian had visited her grandparents in China as recently as February.

Ms Wong said Ms Liu's mother was arranging to fly to NZ and hoped to reunite with Qian within two weeks.

"The plan is to have her come to New Zealand to sort out the process then we hope to have her reunited with Qian Xun as soon as possible."

Child welfare agencies in Melbourne and Auckland were "positive" about the idea of bringing Qian to Auckland to meet her grandmother, Ms Wong said.

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• 回复：'How do we tell little Pumpkin?' -中小学生- ♂ (919 bytes) () 09/19/2007 postreply 08:39:43

• 愚蠢的新西兰警察，对他们失望头顶。 -cottonYu- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/19/2007 postreply 14:07:56

• 回复：'How do we tell little Pumpkin?' -道无双- ♂ (35 bytes) () 09/20/2007 postreply 00:44:32