Desert Rd homicide: Name suppression lapses for Gaoxiang Yu, accused of killing Ricky Wang

The body of Bao Chang "Ricky" Wang was found in 2020, three years after he vanished. Photo / Supplied

Name suppression lapsed today for Gaoxiang Yu, who is alleged to have participated in the murder of an Auckland man who vanished in 2017. Police did not realise he was missing until his body was discovered in a shallow grave near Tongariro National Park several years later.

Yu was charged with murder in June and his lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf last month at the High Court at Auckland.

But his name suppression remained in place until today, when Justice Neil Campbell joined his case with co-defendant Zhicheng Gu.

Both men are set to go to trial in June.

The remains of Bao Chang Wang, known as Ricky, were found in a shallow grave covered in concrete near Desert Rd and Tongariro National Park in March 2020. Authorities alleged he was killed in Auckland, roughly 370km away, in August 2017.

Wang's family believed he had travelled overseas and he was not reported as missing, police previously said.

Gu, Yu's co-defendant, was charged with murder in 2020.

A third man, Jian Qi Zhao, was also charged in 2020. He pleaded guilty to murder last month.