Northland police are investigating how a stolen car plunged 35 metres down a steep bank near a popular Northland beach.
The car was discovered by a woman walking her dog near a carpark overlooking Whale Bay on the Tutukaka Coast about 8.30am yesterday. She called emergency services.
Police said the vehicle was owned by an Aucklander but was being used by a family member in Matapouri where it was stolen on Saturday night.
Firefighters from Ngunguru, St John paramedics, police and a helicopter crew were baffled by the discovery of the car, which had crashed through native bush, from the carpark on Matapouri Rd, before coming to a rest about 35 metres down the steep slope. It stopped short of landing in the picturesque Whale Bay, 35km northeast of Whangarei.
Ngunguru fire chief Richard Hodder said his crew went down the slope to check the car but did not find anybody inside.