Extra police join Dunedin homicide inquiry

Extra staff will today join the police investigation into the death of a young man found on an Otago beach yesterday.

A homicide investigation was launched after the man's body was found just before 8am in the Blueskin Bay Estuary near the township of Warrington, about 20km north of Dunedin.

Police had increased the number of staff on the investigation from 30 to 40 today, Detective Senior Sergeant Kallum Croudis said.

They will include ESR forensic scientists and specialist search staff at the scene.

A post mortem examination was carried out yesterday evening but police have yet to provide any details about the injuries the man sustained, or where he may have died.

Police were working on positive lines of inquiry in their attempts to identify the deceased, Mr Croudis said.

He said police had an open mind about the death, and that local people need not be concerned for their safety.

Waikouaiti Coast Community Board member Geraldine Tait, who lives in Warrington, said the community had been shocked to hear of the homicide.

"You always like to think this would happen somewhere else. Actually, you'd like to think it wouldn't happen at all," she told the Otago Daily Times.

"This has brought the modern-day horrors into our community."

Ms Tait said it was not uncommon for people to walk alone on the popular beach.

"People are going to be a bit on edge until more is known about this."

She was not aware of any locals who were missing.

- NZPA