Body found in concrete that of former Coaster
BLACKBALL
AUCKLAND police have confirmed a body found entombed in concrete at a Mount Eden property in January is that of a former Blackball man.
Police were called to the Marlborough St property on January 31 after contractors uncovered bones underneath the house, which was undergoing renovation.
After a lengthy investigation process police yesterday named the deceased as David Stanley Hart.
In November 2018, the Grey District Council sought Mr Hart in relation to his Blackball property. His dilapidated house was demolished about five years ago, apparently as it was a health risk, and the section was recently sold by the council at tender.
Mr Hart’s wife had previously told someone interested in buying the property that he was too sick with throat cancer to speak.
Neville Sheehan ran sheep on Mr Hart’s land at Blackball. He told the Greymouth Star earlier this year that Mr Hart’s house in Stafford St, Blackball, was burgled in 2013, which Mr Sheehan reported to police because some items, including a dressing unit and an old fireplace, were stolen from the shed. The culprit was never found.
Mr Sheehan said yesterday he had thought it was someone else in the concrete, and was surprised to hear it was Mr Hart.
‘‘He spent a lot of time in Australia and I thought he would have ended up over there.’’
He and his brother were quiet and pleasant to talk to, Mr Sheehan said.
He noted the police statement yesterday said Mr Hart’s family had been contacted, whereas when the council demolished his house it had failed to trace relatives.
Another Blackball resident who knew Mr Hart described him as a short man. Although he did not have ties to the West Coast, he spent time looking for gold and working for the New Zealand Forest Service, usually with a Blackball forestry gang.
The man knew Mr Hart in the early 1970s, when he was prospecting for gold at Moonlight and staying in a van, before buying a property in Blackball.
He was last seen in the area about 20 years ago.
Mr Hart used to own the boarding house situated at the Mount Eden address where his body was found.
Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Franich said police were pleased to be able to progress the case to a point where the remains had been identified.
‘‘It is a credit to the investigation team and to ESR that we have been able to get to the stage where an identification of Mr Hart has been made as it has been a long, complex and exhaustive process.’’
Police said they had spoken to several people in New Zealand and overseas who had resided at the address.
They were asking for anyone who may have interacted or had contact with Mr Hart from March 2004 onwards or had any interactions at the address of 3 Marlborough St, Mount Eden or with persons living there up until 2016 when it ceased operating as boarding house to come forward. — Greymouth Star/RNZ