The body of a 62-year-old American woman has been found stuffed inside a suitcase on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Authorities have arrested her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend in relation to the death, police said.

The suitcase containing Sheila von Wiese-Mack’s body was found on Tuesday inside the boot of a taxi parked in front of the St Regis Bali Resort in the island’s upscale Nusa Dua area, said Colonel Djoko Hari Utomo, the police chief in Bali’s capital Denpasar.

Ms von Wiese-Mack’s 19-year-old daughter, Heather Mack, and her 21-year-old boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, were arrested yesterday morning at a hotel in Bali’s Kuta area, about 10km away.

Both were being questioned but were refusing to talk until being joined by lawyers.

The US Embassy in Jakarta confirmed that Ms von Wiese-Mack’s body had been found, but did not give details.

Col Utomo said Ms Mack and Mr Schaefer had hired the taxi and then placed the suitcase inside its boot. The two told the taxi driver they were going to check out and would return, he said, citing the driver.

But after two hours, Ms Mack and Mr Schaefer had not reappeared. Hotel security guards found blood spots on the suitcase, and suggested that the driver drive the taxi to the police station. Officers at the station opened the suitcase and discovered the body.

Ms von Wiese-Mack, from Chicago, and her daughter arrived at the St Regis resort on Saturday, while Mr Schaefer checked in on Monday.

CCTV footage shows that the victim had an argument with Mr Schaefer on Monday in the hotel’s lobby, he said.

An autopsy was being carried out at a Denpasar hospital.