Police Open Homicide Probe After Torso Found in Sofa in Sydney Bushland

New South Wales police have launched a homicide investigation after a human torso was found inside a sofa dumped in bushland on Sydney's lower north shore, the Guardian and ABC News reported. The remains, believed to be those of an adult man, had probably been there for several days.

Police say they have no leads yet on where the rest of the body might be, and they have not identified the man.

What did police find, and where?

Officers were called to Lane Cove North at about 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday after reports of a suspicious item with a smell in bushland off Avian Crescent. According to the ABC, a local man discovered the remains while on a bushwalk that afternoon. His wife told the broadcaster the couple had noticed a foul smell from the bushland in recent days and went to look.

Supt. Paul Devaney, commander of the North Shore Police Area Command, said police found a sofa-style storage couch about 5 meters from the road. Inside were human remains, which a forensic examination later identified as the torso of an adult male. Devaney said it had no head, arms or legs.

How long had the remains been there?

Devaney said there were signs the remains had been there for at least a couple of days. He told reporters that police had received a number of reports from members of the public about a strong odor in the area.

What are investigators doing now?

A crime scene was set up and forensic specialists took the remains for a postmortem examination. The ABC reported that the torso was taken to the institute of forensic medicine at Lidcombe.

Detectives and the state's homicide squad are leading the investigation. Police have deployed a cadaver dog and are conducting a line search, and the police aviation unit, known as PolAir, has been flying over the area. The missing persons registry is helping police try to identify the man.

Devaney said officers were working around the clock to establish who the man was, what led to his death and how his remains came to be left there.

Why does it matter for people who live nearby?

Devaney sought to reassure residents of Lane Cove, saying police are confident they are not under any threat. He said there is no indication the man met foul play in the Lane Cove area, but he also stressed that it is very early in the investigation and that police are still carrying out numerous inquiries.

He described the street as very quiet, in an area with probably nil crime rate, and called the activity very unusual. The ABC reported that the bushland is popular with dog walkers and has a network of walking tracks, but has also been used for illegal dumping.

Residents told the ABC the discovery had shaken the community. One woman said the neighborhood is very friendly and safe, and another resident said she had never seen anything like it in the area and was scared.

How can the public help?

Police are asking anyone with information to come forward. According to the Guardian, they are especially interested in dashcam or security camera footage that may be relevant to the case.

Devaney acknowledged that scenes like this are confronting for officers but said they are highly trained and receive support. He added that his greater concern was for the relatives of the victim.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ABC News (Australia), The Independent

Cover photo: Batsv / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

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