KEY POINTS:
A 15 year old boy has been arrested for the murder of North Shore pensioner Doreen Reed.
Police confirmed this afternoon that they had charged the boy shortly after lunchtime.
He is due to appear in the North Shore District Court tomorrow charged with murder.
Police have also revealed that a post mortem showed Mrs Reed had died of multiple stab wounds. Some had pierced her vital organs.
Neighbours last saw 77-year-old Doreen Reed at 3.30pm last Friday.
By Saturday, she was not answering her phone, despite endless calls from a close friend who would ring most days.
The next day, the friend was so worried that she and her husband drove to Mrs Reed's house in Eskdale Rd, Birkdale, where they found her body.
"The side gate, which is the main gate people would use, was open and I thought that was strange," said the friend, who did not want to be named.
"All the drapes were shut and no windows were open and we thought that was also strange."
As the friend went inside, she called out to Mrs Reed and, getting no response, headed to the bedroom.
"I knocked on the door and I opened it and there she was. The light was different and I thought she was asleep, but that was for like a millisecond, and then I realised something was wrong."
Police describe her death as violent. It is also understood there was blood in her bedroom.
Mrs Reed and her husband, who died in 2001, came to New Zealand from England in the 1950s. They didn't have any children and there are no other relatives here. Police are still trying to contact relatives in England and South Africa.
The friend met Mrs Reed when she worked as an apprentice at the Englishwoman's Devonport hairdressing salon many years ago.
Through the years their friendship grew. The friend bought her own salon and when she went overseas for a while Mrs Reed minded it for her.
"When her husband died I sort of felt responsible [for her]. I kept in regular touch with Doreen and over the last maybe three years I have phoned her daily or every second day.
"I last spoke to her on Thursday and she was fine, absolutely fine. It was just a normal conversation.
"I phoned her on Saturday, several times, and could get no reply. I did get sort of concerned, but not overly because she would sometimes walk to the dairy or go out in her car to get some shopping."
The friend rang Mrs Reed's neighbour, hoping she could check on her, but the neighbour wasn't home.
She tried ringing again on Sunday, but got no reply from either Mrs Reed or the neighbour.
Feeling concerned, "but not thinking the worst", the woman and her husband drove to Mrs Reed's house to check on her. She went inside and discovered her friend dead in bed.
After police arrived, one of the first things they discovered missing was her car.
Yesterday morning, a 14-year-old boy, who had seen a picture of the Rover hatchback on the front of the Herald, spotted it parked in Santiago Cres, about a 10-minute drive away from Mrs Reed's home.
While the car underwent a forensic examination yesterday afternoon police went door to door in the area trying to establish how long it had been there.
Detective Inspector Steve Wood said one resident thought it had been there since about 6pm on Saturday.
Mr Wood said there was a "long way to go" in the investigation, which a team of 25 officers are working on.
Meanwhile, Mrs Reed's friend is still coming to grips with what has happened.
"She did not deserve to die a death like that, absolutely not. She was a very kind-hearted woman."
* Anyone with information is asked to call North Shore police on (09) 477- 5000.
