AN elderly New Zealand couple have found a severed head while strolling along a popular Fiji beach.

Similar tied bundles that washed ashore in late June at Natadola Beach contained two pairs of feet.

3 It is feared the body parts may belong to missing Russian couple Yuri and Natalia Shipulin

3 The couple, who moved to Fiji five years ago, went missing last month

The discovery is the latest in a gruesome murder case that has captivated the picturesque South Pacific island nation.

Fiji police believe the victims in the unsolved murder case were Russian couple Yuri and Natalia Shipulin, who went missing last month.

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Graeme Bickley said he and his wife Jan had traveled to Fiji for a week-long vacation in order to watch a rugby match and relax.

He said they were walking along the beach Monday morning when they spotted a bundle in water that was about 3ft deep.

Having heard about the murder case, he said, the couple joked that the bundle might contain more body parts.

But things soon turned serious.

3 A New Zealand man found the decapitated head in water three feet deep. It is feared it could belong to Mr or Mrs Shipulin. Pictured is Mr Shipulin

"I scrambled in and grabbed hold, it was very, very heavy," he said.

"I dropped it on the sand and you could hear there were rocks in it. I looked at the shape of it, and thought 'This isn't looking good'."

Bickley said the bundle was tied with a nylon line. He didn't want to disturb it further, he said, and so they left it until police officers arrived, who later confirmed it contained a head.

Local reports said the Russian couple was struggling to pay their bills after their farm was severely damaged by Cyclone Winston in February.

They moved to Fiji five years ago and grew pumpkins, watermelons and other fruits and vegetables for profit.

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