'Drowned' man's body discovered in the bush

When Alexander White disappeared at a secluded fishing spot in Auckland, police thought he must have drowned.

But last week, almost four years on, his body was found in dense bush at Destruction Gully at Whatipu, south of Piha.

Police said last week that human remains were found by a person walking well off any tracks. On Friday, they said that the body was Mr White's.

His death was not believed to be suspicious.

Mr White, 42, was caught up in a North Shore scandal where a mother sold her daughter for sex. He was involved in the agreement.

The mother was jailed for 18 months in 2002, but Mr White, from Manurewa, was never charged because he disappeared at Whatipu in June 2001.

The area he disappeared from was a remote area at the entrance to the Manukau Harbour, with windswept sand dunes, wetlands and wildlife. The alarm was raised when his black Suzuki four-wheel-drive was still parked in a layby at Destruction Gully the next day.

At the time, Detective Senior Sergeant Geoff Jago, of Papakura, said he thought it unlikely that Mr White would be found alive.

He described him as a keen fisherman. But he said the lack of any clues or sightings of him in the area on the day he disappeared meant police could not rule out foul play.

A strong possibility was that he had been swept off the rocks, Mr Jago said.

None of his possessions were found despite two thorough searches of the area by the Auckland Search and Rescue Squad.

The body was virtually just skeletal remains when it was found on January 20 and was examined by a pathologist.

Police have eliminated foul play as a possible reason for Mr White's death and the matter has been referred to the Auckland coroner.