KEY POINTS:
A coroner is now examining the body of the man found this morning in the Kahurangi National Park, five days after he went missing.
The body of Steve Thornborrow, missing since Tuesday, has been found only two kilometres from the area he parked his car in the Kahurangi National Park near Nelson.
Motueka Search and Rescue co-ordinator John Haynes said Mr Thornborrow's body was found about 9am in dense bush near the Flora Hut.
Search teams have been looking for 51-year-old Thornborrow for several days after his family reported he had not returned from a walk.
A police team was on its way to the location.
Mr Thornborrow had been missing since last Tuesday. Family members found his four-wheel-drive vehicle parked in the carpark leading into the national park on Wednesday afternoon.
The experienced tramper had been devastated when his house at Mapua, 31km west of Nelson, was destroyed by fire a week ago, and it was out of character for him to go away without telling family, his sister, Kelsey Gull, had said.
Police have thanked the several hundred people involved in the search.
In addition to the many volunteers who helped, they were also assisted by an Airforce Iriquois helicopter and crew, and police dog teams.
- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB
