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Sept. 15 (UPI) -- South Korean police on Thursday arrested a woman believed to be the mother of two long-dead children whose bodies were found last month stuffed in suitcases at a New Zealand storage unit, authorities said. New Zealand Police confirmed in a statement that a 42-year-old woman was arrested by South Korean police on two charges of murder.
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The South Korean court issued the arrest warrant at the request of New Zealand police, which said it has applied to have the unnamed woman extradited to the Oceanic county to face the charges.
"To have someone in custody overseas within such a short period of time has all been down to the assistance of the Korean authorities and the coordination by our NZ Police Interpol staff," it said.
South Korea's National Police Agency said it arrested the South Korean-born New Zealand citizen at an apartment in Ulsan, located about 44 miles north of the southwestern coastal city of Busan, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The arrest brings an end to a manhunt for the woman after the bodies of the two children were found Aug. 11.
New Zealand authorities were notified of the bodies by residents of the Auckland suburb of Manurewa who had brought the suitcases home after buying them along with other household and personal items from a storage facility in an online auction.
The children are believed to have been between the ages of 5 and 10 when they were killed, according to New Zealand Police, which said they appeared to have been dead for several years prior to their discovery.
