Body in burnt-out car for two days: Police scouring CCTV footage for clues

Police are scouring CCTV footage for clues about how a dead body was discovered in a burnt-out vehicle in Havelock North yesterday.

But they say it is too early to speculate on the victim's identity and it could be at least two days until the results of a post mortem examination are known.

And after earlier admitting that police had initially mistaken the charred remains for a burnt animal carcass, they now say the first report of the incident from a member of the public was of a "dead animal" on the vehicle's floor.

Earlier today police admitted they investigated the abandoned, burnt-out vehicle with a woman's body inside two days before, but no investigation was opened because they assumed the body was the remains of an animal.

The vehicle was first discovered on Saturday morning in the River Rd carpark, on the outskirts of Havelock North and near some of Hawke's Bay's most prestigious vineyards.

The car remained there over the weekend.

Eastern Police District Commander Jeanette Park today confirmed that staff initially attended the scene after a call from a member of the public about 10am on Saturday.

"They reported an abandoned vehicle, severely damaged by fire, with what the caller believed to be a dead animal on the rear floor of the vehicle.

"The condition of the vehicle and debris from the fire meant staff did not immediately identify the human remains."

The car where the body was discovered in was removed from the site this morning. Photo / Neil Reid

Yesterday, a dog walker took a closer look at it and made the grisly discovery of a woman's body in the wreck, alerting police to again take a closer look at it.

The dog walker said police who attended initially told him the remains were of a sheep.

"I started picking up all the melted bits of aluminium around the car. As I was doing that I noticed inside the car what to me looked like a corpse," the Hastings man told the Herald.

"Instantly, I yelled out to the first person near me who was also walking a dog, 'Hey, there's a body in the back'.

"He looked at another dog walker, and both of these two dudes waltzed over to the car and said, 'We have already heard about it mate, it's been here since Saturday. It is just a dog'."

A police cordon has been set up at the carpark where the grisly discovery was made. Photo / Neil Reid

The man said he "wasn't convinced" that the remains were those of an animal.

He took a closer look and discovered a woman's body which was lying "face down behind the driver's seat".

"I noticed she had a silver chain around her neck. So I managed to free that up a little bit, and then leaned inside the car.

"I leaned in the window so I was over the top of the body, grabbed her hip bone and chain and lifted her torso and head so that she was lying across the back seat.

"She had shoulder-length hair, the necklace, and I could see [some of her facial features]. I knew it was a human."

The man said it was clear that the woman had "multiple bone fractures".

He immediately called police and urged them to rush to the scene.

When officers arrived, he said they told him that they were already aware of the wreck and said that the remains were those of an animal.

Police forensics at the scene where a body was found in a burnt out car on the outskirts of Havelock North. Photo / Neil Reid

"They sent someone down," he said. "They waltzed on down [to the carpark] and it was like, 'We have already heard about it. It is a sheep'.

"I lost it, I had already exposed her face, and said, 'Does a sheep have shoulder-length hair? Does a sheep wear a necklace?'.

"That is when the two officers went and had a look and asked me to stand back."

Superintendent Park says as part of the investigation police will be reviewing the initial response.

"Our priority at the moment is to identify this person and to let their family know. This will obviously be devastating news for them and that is our focus," she says.

"Investigations are now well under way with police completing their scene examination at the site today. River Road has been reopened to traffic.

"Police are reviewing CCTV footage to assist with their enquiry. The results of the post-mortem will not be known for two days."

The River Rd carpark, and part of River Rd, was closed today.

A police cordon is in place and forensics experts are combing both the carpark and nearby scrub and bushland.

The car was removed from the site this morning.

The reserve is a popular area for cyclists and people walking dogs, providing access to the Tukituki River and adjacent cycleway.