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The sister of murdered teen Ariki Rigby says her sibling’s hands and feet were severed before she was set alight in a car found abandoned at a remote reserve.
Almost seven months on from the gruesome discovery of the 18-year-old’s body by a dog walker, police have made no arrests but told the Herald the investigation is in a sensitive stage.
The burnt-out vehicle was found at River Road Recreational Reserve in early September on the outskirts of Havelock North.
The teenager’s body was initially mistaken by officers as a sheep carcass and the torched vehicle was earmarked to be impounded.
Police forensics at the scene where a body was found in a burnt-out car on the outskirts of Havelock North. Photo / Neil Reid
In a revealing interview on YouTube with The Felon Show, Ariki’s sister Anaherā Rigby said her sister’s body had been dismembered.
“You know they do say that she had broken bones. I suppose they forgot to mention that she also had her hands and feet cut off,” Rigby said.
She also revealed she believed Ariki might have ended up a missing person had the walker not tuned into their spiritual side and followed a sense there was something more to the burnt-out wreck.
She claimed her slain sister was struggling with mental health issues and suffered from anxiety but going to church meetings and praying regularly was helping her gain confidence.
“I didn’t realise a lot of things started happening in her life. She didn’t share trauma things.
“My sister and I fell out of the church... she just started falling off again. The evil one was really hammering at my sister and he was doing the same to me too.”
Police officers went back to Riverside Recreational Reserve a week after Ariki Rigby's body was dumped there in a bid to find any leads. Photo / Neil Reid
The 18-year-old was killed during a holiday to visit relatives – including her father – in Hawke’s Bay, where she grew up.
Rigby’s last memory of her sister was when she was in the driveway on her way to Hastings.
“The last memory I have is of her walking out my doors and jumping in her car. The window won’t go up so I had to put a rubbish bag over it. It was raining. That was a sign she shouldn’t go anywhere.
“I was begging her to stay but she didn’t want to. I kept trying to tell her to stay.
“She wanted to go to Hastings and I told her, ‘You got beaten up there’.
Rigby said she was afraid for her to go back there.
“But she went back and I told her to make sure to go to dad’s.”
She said he saw her for the first week but then she ended up at her friend’s place.
The family of Ariki Rigby placed flyers in shops around Hastings and Flaxmere appealing for information. Photo / Neil Reid
After that her sister was unreachable and she was unable to get in contact with her, she said.
Rigby earlier said she believed her sisters’ killers were gang-affiliated.
The family was able to get into Ariki’s social media account while still looking for her before the grisly discovery, Rigby said.
“My sister was going to meet up with somebody saying things like ‘should I bring my shotgun’, ‘I don’t care just kill me dog I’m exhausted asf just kill me’.”
The family had also met the person who found the body, Rigby said.
“They [police] were going to get the car towed and crushed had the person who found her didn’t find her in time.
“The walker, who is in touch with his wairua [spiritual] side, he heard my sister she was talking to him screaming at him and then he started having a conversation with my sister.”
Rigby said her sister’s body was shoved under the driver’s car seat, and the hands and feet were not with the body.
“As much as they could get her under there so most of her body was under there but it was burnt.
”We were so grateful that they found her otherwise she would have forever been declared a missing person.
”They had done a lot to her. I found out so much about her.”
Police forensics at the scene where a body was found in a burnt-out car on the outskirts of Havelock North. photo / Neil Reid
In the lead-up to Christmas, police said they believed possible witnesses to Ariki’s homicide investigations were not coming forward due to the potential gang affiliations of those thought to be responsible.
The car which Ariki’s body had been shoved into was taken to the River Road Recreational Reserve either late in the night on September 2, or early in the morning on September 3. It was then set alight.
The burnt-out car was reported to police on September 3. But attending officers didn’t realise the charred remains inside were human.
The car remained there for a further two days before the dog walker realised the body was human and urged police to return to the scene. The dog walker revealed Ariki had suffered multiple bone breaks and fractures.
Police are reviewing their initial response.
Yesterday, a police spokesperson said the investigation was at a sensitive stage and they were continuing to make progress, so were unable to comment further.
On December 22, police made a further appeal for information about Ariki’s homicide.
Detective Senior Sergeant James Keene said police believed gang affiliations of those thought to be responsible were preventing possible witnesses from passing on vital information.
“We know there are people in our community who know what happened to... Ariki, and who was responsible,” Keene said.
“We also know there are a few reasons why people might not be talking - one of which is a belief that ‘narking’ is not the ‘done’ thing. My plea is that people set aside that belief and focus on what the right thing to do is.”
The distraught sister warned that “our streets aren’t safe” until those responsible were located.
“We just hope that they find them all [the offenders] because she was only 18, a little girl. She was loved, she had a family that loved her.”
