MAN CHARGED WITH GRACE MILLANE MURDER: ‘EVERY PARENT WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT HER FAMILY IS GOING THROUGH’
Police chief: Every parent understands what her family is now going through. By Hannah Martin and Laine Moger.
The disappearance of a British backpacker is every parent’s nightmare, police say.
But last night, they were able to bring some solace to the father of Grace Millane, and her family back home: they had arrested a 26-year-old man and said he would appear in Auckland District Court tomorrow. He will be charged with murder.
Grace, 22, from Essex, was last seen in central Auckland on December 1 and was reported missing on Wednesday.
At a press conference yesterday, Detective Inspector Scott Beard said the case had been particularly tough. He’d been keeping her father David updated since his arrival on Friday.
‘‘Everyone who is a parent out there will understand and appreciate what that family is going through,’’ Beard said.
‘‘We’ve spoken to David. We’ve met him, but there is family in the UK and our hearts go out to them as well.
‘‘I know that the thoughts of all New Zealanders will be with Grace’s family tonight and I want to reassure everyone both here and abroad, that NZ Police are determined to do everything we can to find Grace.’’
Beard said though they hadn’t yet found a body, officers had gathered evidence yesterday that had ‘‘established this is a homicide’’ and that Grace’s family were ‘‘devastated’’ at the news.
‘‘We still do not know where Grace is. We are determined to find her and return her to her family,’’ Beard said.
The 26-year-old man is alleged to have been with Grace on the Saturday evening, and accompanied her to several places before going to the CityLife Hotel, where she was last sighted at 9.41pm that night.
Police had identified and found a vehicle of interest and officers were trying to find out where it had been, he said.
Beard said he had no evidence to suggest Grace knew the man before Saturday, but would not speculate on how they met.
Earlier yesterday, police said some of Grace’s belongings, including her passport, a pale pink Casio Baby-G watch and a silver necklace with a green stone in the middle, were missing from the hostel she was staying at.
Beard said: ‘‘The clothing is going to be somewhere, we haven’t found it. Somebody may find it somewhere.’’
Grace was on a year-long OE after graduating in advertising from the University of Lincoln. The keen artist arrived in New Zealand on November 20, after travelling through South America.
Photos on her Instagram account showed she travelled to Cape Reinga with friends before returning to Auckland.
Her family described her as a ‘‘fun-loving, outgoing and familyorientated person’’.
This was, they said, her first time travelling abroad alone.