A murder investigation in Australia was called off after forensic testing revealed that the contents of a suitcase were not human remains but a lifelike doll. The suitcase was found by two men on the side of a road near the village of Oallen, in New South Wales, on a Sunday afternoon.
The doll was dressed, had hair and a nose piercing, and bore markings resembling bruises and grazes. Its appearance was so convincing that police initially believed they were dealing with the remains of a woman.
Duration of the investigation before the doll was identified.
The investigation lasted about 20 hours and was hampered by heavy rain and the remote location of the find. Police in New South Wales had announced a murder probe before the doll was correctly identified.
Police defend handling of case
Superintendent Linda Bradbury of the Hume Police District said the contents were
They are very realistic in terms of looking like human remains.
Criminologist Vincent Hurley said the police
Forensic science associate professor Paola Magni of Murdoch University said the best practice for investigating potential bodies in containers is to X-ray them rather than opening them fully.
Forensic expert Dr. Xanthe Weston of the University of Newcastle said the 20-hour timeframe was
The incident echoes a case in 2023, when Warwickshire Police in the UK investigated a report of a dead body in a wooded area near Kineton, which turned out to be a discarded sex doll, according to a report. In Australia, possessing a child-like sex doll is a criminal offence, but the doll found in Oallen was not believed to be childlike.
