Police say a 36-year old man linked to the death, and two children, left Sydney on Tuesday and have been located in China’s Sichuan province

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

Chinese authorities have confirmed they are speaking to a man linked to the death of a woman found in a freezer in a Sydney unit.

Police discovered the body of the woman – a Chinese national believed to be in her 30s – after they entered the Pymble unit on Wednesday morning.

Emergency services were called to the unit on Bobbin Head Road about 10am on Wednesday after a friend become concerned for her welfare.

The woman had not yet been formally identified.

“At this stage we don’t have any motive, we don’t have a cause of death. We’ll explore that as we explore the identity of the victim, the identity of those involved,” detective superintendent Scott Cook told reporters on Thursday.

“We’ve also engaged with the AFP’s liaison officer in Beijing and with the Chinese ministry for public security and Chinese consulate in Australia, and we’re getting exceptional assistance from all those agencies.”

Police on Thursday morning said in a statement that a 36-year-old man and two boys, aged four and six, left Sydney on a China-bound flight about 11:30am on Tuesday.

The children were safe and Chinese authorities in the south-western Sichuan province were speaking with the 36-year-old, New South Wales police said.

“What’s unusual in this case is the transnational nature of it. We’re seeing this more and more with matters we investigate, perhaps a reflection on the use of travel and integration of communities,” Cook said.

They were now appealing for anyone with additional information to come forward and said they would address media on Thursday.

Cook said he expected additional feedback from his Chinese counterparts later on Thursday.

A postmortem examination will be conducted next week to determine the woman’s cause of death.