Police have revealed they have "grave concerns" for a missing woman and believe she may be the "victim of foul play" after her husband was violently killed in their central Auckland home.
Earlier on Thursday, police named the man who was a victim of a suspected homicide in central Auckland as 66-year-old Fuk-Fu Joseph Kwok.
Det Insp Scott Beard, of Auckland City, told media on Thursday afternoon the victim's missing wife, 67-year-old Mei Han Chong, may be the victim of foul play.
He told media he has "grave concerns for her safety and welfare".
"Unfortunately, our inquiries to date suggest that Mei Han Chong - the wife of the deceased man, Joseph Kwok - may also be the victim of foul play," Det Insp Scott Beard said.
"Sadly we have not received any information on the whereabouts of Mei."
Chong is described as of Asian descent, small in stature: 5 foot tall, weighing 48kgs and has short dark grey hair and wears glasses.
Det Insp Scott Beard said Chong's son described her disappearance as being "totally out of character".
"We have a son who is grieving. He's struggling that he's lost a mother who can't be found and a dad who's been murdered," Det Insp Scott Beard said.
This has led police to appeal to the public for help in finding the missing woman.
"We're working hard to try and find her but we need the public's assistance," he said.
"Someone out there must know something or have seen something and even if it's trivial to them, it could very well be important to the police investigation. This is like a jigsaw. We're trying to put the pieces together and this is why we need the public's assistance."
The reason police believe Chong was a victim of "foul play" is because some of the "property that we have found in the house" would suggest she hasn't left voluntarily.
"From the fact that Mei doesn't drive, it would suggest someone has taken that car," he said.
Det Insp Scott Beard said police are trying to establish whether this is a targeted attack on the family or not. He confirmed no murder weapon has been found yet.
"It would appear this is a targeted attack - but we just don't know why. I hope she's still alive, but I can't say that," Beard said of Chong's welfare.
What happened
Police said officers were called to a property on Celtic Cres in Ellerslie just before 8pm on Monday after "a man [was] found unresponsive at the address".
Det Insp Scott Beard said police were originally treating his death as "unexplained" but on Tuesday it was upgraded to a homicide.
A police spokesperson said the victim's injuries were "violent, and consistent with foul play".
Det Insp Scott Beard said Kwok was killed in a violent and brutal manner.
"It was quite brutal. He died as a result of multiple stab wounds. The nature of some other injuries suggests more than one offender could have been involved," he said.
"We are working to understand why he was the target of this aggressive and unwarranted assault."
