Two men aged 20 and 18 remained silent when they appeared in the Auckland District Court today charged with the murder of student Jiayi Li.
Lawyers for the two men, both of whom are of Asian ethnicity, successfully sought interim name suppression, on the grounds that the defendants' parents need to be told of the allegations.
Each man faces four charges - murder, aggravated robbery and two of dishonestly using Ms Li's eftpos card at ATM machines in Auckland.
They were remanded in custody without plea to reappear on 23 June.
Car had been in street for several days
Jiayi Li, 18, also known as Kiko, was last seen early on 19 May when she dropped a friend off in the suburb of Kingsland, Auckland.
Police had been searching for her car, which was found in Hamilton last night with a body in the boot. They say a resident who reported the vehicle parked in a suburban street told them it had been there for several days.
Ms Li's family have been informed and are making arrangements to come to New Zealand.
