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SYDNEY, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Australian police have ended a homicide investigation that began with two members of the public on a Sunday drive finding a dumped suitcase on the side of the road in a remote town, opening it up and finding what appeared to be remains of a human body.
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Instead, forensic examinations later determined that “the item located in the bag was a lifelike doll, wearing clothing, with hair and a nose piercing,” police said in a statement on Monday.
“The item also had markings that resembled bruises and grazes,” it said.
Called to Oallen, a town about 200 km (125 miles) south-west of Sydney, police officers established a crime scene but did not examine the contents too closely.
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Superintendent Linda Bradbury told reporters that police “don’t like to disturb remains too much in situ, particularly when we have faced inclement weather, as we did yesterday and again today.”
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The item was “very realistic in terms of looking like human remains,” she added.
(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.
This story was originally published August 9, 2026 at 10:30 PM.