Missing NZ Girl: Child's Body Found In Drain
A child's body has been found in a drain near where a toddler went missing a week earlier in New Zealand.
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Two-year-old Aisling Symes, whose father Allan is originally from County Waterford in Ireland, disappeared from a suburb of Auckland on October 5.
Emergency crews have now announced the discovery of a young child's remains.
Police stressed it had not been confirmed that it was Aisling, but said officers were with her family.
Aisling Symes
The discovery was made in a drain in the suburb of Henderson just after 8pm New Zealand time (8am GMT), following several hours of intense searching.
The area has been cordoned off and was being treated as a crime scene.
Police said in a statement: "It's too early to know how long the child has been in the drain or how it got there.
"The child has not been identified nor can we confirm what gender it is at this stage."
Parents Allan and Angela Symes
Aisling went missing from her late grandparents' house in Henderson while her parents were clearing the property.
A large team of police and volunteers had spent the past week searching for the girl.
There was speculation she had been abducted.
The body was discovered after an offer of a $50,000 (£23,000) reward from British aristocrat Lord Ashcroft for information leading to Aisling's safe return.
Police searching for a missing two-year-old girl have found a body in a drain in Auckland, New Zealand.

New Zealand Police have been searching for two-year-old Aisling Symes, who disappeared one week ago after being spotted for the last time near her grandparents' house in the Henderson region.  The body was found in that area at around 8:00 PM local time on Monday.  Bob Harvey, who is the mayor of Waitakere City, made a statement Monday night confirming that the remains of a human body had been found.

Inspector Gary Davy made a statement on behalf of New Zealand Police, saying that it was "with tremendous sorrow" that the body had been found. He also said: "It is too early at this stage to know how the child got there, or in fact, how long the child was in the drain.

"Police are speaking with the family of Aisling Symes, but it is too early to determine for certain that it is Aisling," Davy said. "The immediate scene has been cordoned off and it is now being treated as a crime scene."