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Police investigating the disappearance of Auckland two-year-old Aisling Symes have worked through the night after the discovery of a child's body in a storm drain in Henderson.
The body of a young girl, discovered in a drain at a Henderson property near where Aisling went missing, was removed from the scene shortly after midnight Monday.
During a hastily convened press conference at the scene at about 9.30pm Monday, the officer heading the search, Inspector Gary Davey, said it was not known how long the body had been in the drain, nor how it had got there.
A post mortem examination of the child's body, which is currently at the Auckland Hospital mortuary will be carried out at 9am Tuesday.
The young child's body was found shortly before 8pm Monday.
Council staff were called to Longburn Rd earlier in the day to help in the search, says Waitakere City Council's group manager of asset development Tony Miguel.
"They (the police) asked us to put a camera up the pipeline, and it appears the body of a child is in there."
The drain, at the end of the driveway at 5 Longburn Rd, was approximately 38cm wide.
It is believed the manhole cover was in place when police and council staff arrived, but there may be other entry points to the drain, Miguel says.
Firefighters, using concrete cutters, and police had been excavating for about two hours on the property on a Henderson street where the two-year-old was last seen a week ago. The wooded property down a long drive adjoins the back of Aisling's deceased grandparents' home.
The area where the body was found is still under guard and the scene examination will continue on Tuesday.
Two-year-old Aisling went missing from the west Auckland suburb of Henderson last Monday while her mother Angela was distracted for a moment with a washing machine tap.
Police made a detailed search within a 3km radius of the house for two days after she went missing. The last confirmed sighting of her had been at 5.15pm last Monday, in the company of an unknown Asian woman who was walking a dog.
A few hundred people gathered outside the property while Monday night's search went on and some wept and hugged when news of the body being found came through.
Some neighbours held candles on the street and others brought flowers to the scene.
Waitakere City Mayor Bob Harvey described the find as "the worst possible outcome".
The discovery is a terrible tragedy for the family, Harvey says.
"My thoughts are with them at this time. I want to thank the searchers, the volunteers and the police who never gave up the search for this precious little girl."
Earlier on Tuesday evening, a church service where prayers were being said for Aisling was interrupted when extended family left in a hurry.
Police are due to hold a press conference around 8am Tuesday morning.
