Suspicious death at falls sparks homicide probe
The suspicious death of a 26-year-old Ngaruawahia man at McLaren Falls has been described as “heartbreaking”.
Mitchell Curtis Rehua Paterson’s body was found in water below McLaren Falls Bridge near Tauranga about 11.30am on Friday.
The area was cordoned off for most of the day with police turning traffic around further up McLaren Falls Rd.
Detective Inspector Lewis Warner said Paterson’s body was found in “suspicious circumstances” but would not elaborate further.
A post-mortem was held yesterday to help determine the cause of death but Warner said police would like to hear from anyone who noticed suspicious activity in the area on Friday. Warner said officers searched a residential address in Mill Lane, Hamilton, as part of the homicide investigation.
Bay of Plenty and Waikato police were working together on the case.
Margaret Murray-Benge, who represented the Kaimai Ward on the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, said the death was a tragedy.
“There seems to be a lot of anti-social behaviour going on at the moment, which is a real worry for police.”
She said the discovery of the body was heartbreaking and Paterson’s family would be in turmoil.
Murray-Benge said the body was found in an area that
There seems to be a lot of anti-social behaviour going on at the moment, which is a real worry for police.” Margaret Murray-Benge
Police at the McLaren Falls bridge where the body was found. The area was cordoned off for most of the day.
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was one of the Bay’s beauty spots. “So many people go there — they love it.”
A local woman yesterday said despite the area’s beauty, there seemed to be a lot of deaths there.
In 2015 two Indian cousins, 26-year-old Maninder Singh from Tauranga and 24-yearold Jagdeep Singh, known as Gary, from Gisborne, drowned at a swimming spot near McLaren Falls. In 2014, Muhammad Jawad drowned at McLaren Falls while visiting from Auckland.
In 2006, psychics on the TV reality show Sensing Murder suggested missing woman Luana Noble was buried at McLaren Falls. Archaeologists found three skeletons buried at the site but they were not Williams. In 2005, Natasha Hayden was strangled to death at McLaren Falls by Tauranga man Michael Curran.