Police search SH1 lay-by as part of inquiry
Police are searching a lay-by on State Highway 1 where a car was torched two days after a suspected murder victim was last seen alive.
Anaru Moana, 37, disappeared on December 20, several hours after his mother died of cancer in palliative care in Waimate.
He was last seen at her home on Mary St by his niece about 6.30am, and his phone and bank cards have not been used since.
Two days later, a silver 2004 Subaru sedan was set alight in a lay-by on SH1, near the Waihao River, and another vehicle was seen leaving the area.
Police believe Moana has been murdered.
They have appealed for sightings of the Subaru in Waimate and Oamaru between December 20 and December 22.
On Wednesday, police began a search of the SH1 lay-by. Officers were seen sifting through blackened gravel at the site.
Police revealed last week they had launched a homicide investigation into Moana’s disappearance, but a team of detectives has been working the case for several months.
Officers spent Monday and Tuesday searching Kelceys Bush. They also searched property on Point Bush Rd on the outskirts of Waimate on Tuesday.
Detective Inspector Joel Syme confirmed the searches were linked to the homicide inquiry, but would not say if anything of significance had been found.
Stuff previously reported that Moana’s disappearance could be linked to an incident in Oamaru where he allegedly stole methamphetamine and cash worth tens of thousands of dollars from a Tribesmen gang-linked car parked outside The Warehouse in September.