Brother pays tribute to dead backpacker
The family of a British backpacker whose body was discovered in New Zealand has paid a loving tribute to her memory, as her brother shared poignant photographs. Grace Millane, 22, was found in bushland about 30ft from a highway outside Auckland following a police search after her family raised the alarm when they failed to hear from her as usual. A 26-year-old man was due to appear in court in New Zealand today over the murder of Ms Millane, from Essex.
THE man accused of killing British backpacker Grace Millane in New Zealand has appeared in court.
The 26-year-old was charged at Auckland District Court with murdering Ms Millane, from Essex, who was last seen entering the Citylife hotel last Saturday at 9.41pm.
The 22-year-old woman’s family paid a loving tribute to her memory, as her brother shared poignant photographs with the message: “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.”
Ms Millane was found in bushland about 30ft from a highway outside Auckland after her family raised the alarm when they failed to hear from her as usual.
Describing her as “lovely, outgoing, fun-loving and family-orientated”, her brother Declan paid public tribute on social media with a series of photographs of Ms Millane smiling, celebrating, graduating and, as a little girl, hugging him.
Police have yet to reveal how the Ms Millane met her killer or the possible motive for the crime. Security footage at the hotel, along with a scene investigation at a room there, confirmed that she was dead.
Detective Inspector Scott Beard said the body was found near Scenic Drive, which leads through the Waitakere Ranges, a popular parkland west of Auckland.
“This brings the search for Grace to an end,” he said. “It is an unbearable time for the Millane family and our hearts go out to them.”
Ms Millane’s brother, Declan, yesterday posted an emotional tribute to his sister on Instagram, writing the lyrics to the song “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine” underneath pictures of the pair together.
Ms Millane, who completed a degree in advertising and marketing at Lincoln University, was on a year-long trip and arrived in New Zealand on November 20 after a four-week group tour to Peru. Her family raised concerns after she failed to make contact for several days, including on her 22nd birthday last Sunday.
Police received a missing person report on Wednesday and commenced a major search and public campaign that saw dozens of calls made to a helpline.
David Millane, Grace’s father, arrived in New Zealand on Friday morning and gave a press conference with police, issuing a moving appeal for help. He was joined on the weekend by another family member.
Mr Millane, a property developer, said Ms Millane had typically “bombarded” the family with messages and photographs during her travels but suddenly went silent after last Saturday.
He said: “Grace has never been out of contact for this amount of time. She’s usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself, her two brothers or members of the family on social media. We are all extremely upset and it’s very difficult at this time to fully describe the range of emotions we are going through.”
Police took the suspect into custody several days ago and have charged him with murder.
The defendant’s name has been withheld and he has been described only as a New Zealand resident.
Detective Beard said the investigation will continue and searches were still underway at the hotel. He would not comment on whether the pair met on the dating app Tinder.
“The focus now is to piece together exactly what happened to a young woman who came to New Zealand on her [overseas experience],” he said.
Ms Millane’s body was allegedly transported to the parkland in a red Toyota Corolla hatchback that was rented from a central Auckland firm last Sunday. Police said they want to
‘We are all extremely upset and it’s very difficult to describe the emotions we are going through’
hear from anyone who saw the car in western Auckland between 6am and 9am last Monday.
Expressing his condolences to Mr Millane and the family, Detective Beard said: “Any father in this situation is going to struggle. We are putting a lot of support around him. I feel for him; I have a daughter in her twenties.”
New Zealanders have expressed outrage and some on social media described the case as a “national shame”.
The incident has also raised concerns about violence towards women in the country.