Body found in backpacker search
News
A body has been found in the search for missing British backpacker Grace Millane, about 10 metres from the edge of a road.
Police made the discovery following a scene examination of a bush area on Scenic Drive, in Auckland’s Waitakere Ranges, yesterday.
Formal identification had not yet taken place but police said they believed the body was Millane’s and the search for her had come to an end.
On Saturday evening, police announced they would charge a 26-year-old man with her murder. He remains in custody and is due to appear at Auckland District Court today.
Revealing news of the discovery of the body at a press conference yesterday, Detective Inspector Scott Beard said officers had identified the Waitakere area as a place of interest late on Saturday.
‘‘I can now advise that a short time ago we located a body which we believe to be Grace.
‘‘The formal identification process will now take place; however, from the evidence we have gathered over the last few days we expect that this is Grace.
‘‘Obviously, this brings the search for Grace to an end. This is an unbearable time for the Millane family and our hearts go out to them.’’
However, the investigation will continue for some time.
‘‘The focus now is to piece together exactly what happened to a young woman who came to New Zealand on her OE.’’
Beard also said police had recovered a car of interest – a 2016 Toyota Corolla hire car – in Taupo¯ .
He added Millane’s dad, who arrived in New Zealand from London on Friday to help with the search, had been joined by another family member. ‘‘Any father in this situation is going to struggle,’’ he said. ‘‘We are putting a lot of support around him. I feel for him, I have a daughter in her 20s. ‘‘It’s difficult because he is here with a brother from England and the rest of the family are back home. Our hearts go out to them.’’ Millane, 22, from Essex in the United Kingdom, was last seen in central Auckland on December 1. She was reported missing on Wednesday.
At a press conference on Saturday, Beard said police had gathered evidence, from CCTV footage and scene examinations at CityLife Hotel on Queen St where she was last seen, that determined ‘‘Grace is no longer alive’’.
At the time, Beard said while officers did not know where she was, they were ‘‘determined to find her and return her to her family’’.
Back home in Essex, church services were to be held to remember Millane.
Father John Corbyn, of Our Lady of Good Counsel Roman Catholic Church in Wickford, where the Millane family lives said that she was well known in the community.
‘‘Many of our young people went to school with her. She went to Catholic school, and so did they, so they know her.’’