Holidaymakers find human head on popular Fiji beach
A New Zealand couple on holiday in Fiji found a human head while strolling along the beach.
The couple came across the remains at the popular tourist spot of Natadola Beach, almost directly in front of where the vehicle belonging to murdered Russians Yuri and Natalia Shipulin was found last month, reports stuff.co.nz.
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Graeme Bickley and wife Jan had read about a host of body parts being found in the area over the last few weeks, starting with two pairs of feet, and knew that they had been wrapped in green cloth.
They saw a bundle wrapped in green cloth bobbing in the shallow water at the beach and alerted authorities, who later said it was a human head.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Graeme said: "We said, just jokingly, that it was more body parts.
"Then when I waded in to grab it, it became apparent how heavy it was, it almost pulled me over."
He said he "wasn't game" to look inside and so alerted police, adding: "Someone has very callously cut them up, then spent a lot of time weighting them down with rocks and neatly knotting them up."
Retirees Yuri and Natalia moved to Fiji in 2011 and lived on a vegetable farm in the Nausori Highlands.
Yuri was a former pilot for the Russian air force. According to the Guardian he was owed upwards of US$200,000 for business dealings on the island.
The couple were reported missing on 16 June by business partner Andrew Luzanenko.
Anatolia Beach has two major tourist resorts, the Intercontinental and the Yatule.
According to the Guardian, Repeka Nasiko, a reporter for the Fijian Times,said: "It's a shocking killing, we are not used to something like this here. It is so public and a very popular picnic spot. People are scared that whoever did this is still on the loose."
Authorities in Fiji have conducted DNA tests on the body parts and confirmed they belonged to the Russian couple.
