Police hope to discover the identity of a body found in a creek. (New Zealand Herald)
A woman went missing in the area in January, police say. (New Zealand Herald)
A group of children played with the body for 11 days in the town of Whangaparaoa. (New Zealand Herald)
A group of children in New Zealand are upset after discovering that a body they played with for 11 days in a creek was that of a woman not a crocodile.
Police on Friday hope to discover the identity of the decomposing body reported on Wednesday in the creek near the Stanmore Bay Leisure Centre in Whangaparaoa, 40km north of Auckland.
They said it was too early to tell if it was the body of Alanah Brough, 39, who went missing in the area in January.
Hibiscus Coast Raiders Rugby League Club vice president Merv Heka said children playing for the club first found the remains at a gala day on July 25.
But it was not until a parent tried to fish the remains out on Wednesday that anyone suspected it was a human.
"Three or four of these kids are quite traumatised," Heka told the New Zealand Herald.
A neighbour said he saw about 10 boys prodding the body with sticks.
One of them said "Mister, I think we've found a crocodile in the creek", but he thought it might have been an old tree trunk.
"They were in there playing with it for about two weeks," he told the Herald.
Detective Inspector Bruce Scott said the results of the post-mortem examination and identification were likely to be known on Friday morning.
He said it was possible the remains were those of Brough, a 39-year-old mother-of-two who went missing in the area on January 30.
"We believe it's a female's body so there is that possibility," he said.
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