A post mortem is being conducted on Tuesday to establish how and when a woman died.
Her body was found wrapped in blankets inside a wardrobe in an empty house on Sunday night in the Lower Hutt suburb of Pomare.
The case is being treated as homicide.
A man, 43, appeared in the Wellington District Court on Monday charged with assault. Police say further charges are likely.
Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Levy says the last confirmed sighting of the woman was 19 June.
At this stage, he says no one else is being sought in relation to the woman's death.
