KEY POINTS:
A man whose decomposed body was found crammed into a tiny anchor locker on a fishing boat in Napier was wanted by the police.
Nathan Shane Brown disappeared more than a year ago after fleeing two fishery officers at Onehunga wharf.
Police believe Mr Brown hid himself in the port-side anchor locker of the Pacific Explorer but have not revealed why he could not get out.
It is thought the 33-year-old mistook the uniformed officers for police and fled because there were warrants for his arrest.
No trace of Mr Brown was found until crew members of the fishing trawler opened the anchor locker last Wednesday and found his remains.
Mr Brown's family believed he had drowned after he disappeared from the Onehunga wharf in autumn last year.
But while the family felt he had met his end in the water, the officer investigating the case remained unconvinced. Sergeant Chris Batey believed Mr Brown's body would have been found at the wharf and thought there had to be another explanation.
He was proved right on Monday when DNA tests revealed the remains were those of Mr Brown.
The 155-tonne trawler has two anchors and the port-side one is a back-up that is seldom, if ever, used.
The locker is about 2.5m high, and the hatch about 60cm by 45cm.
Mr Brown was 1.67m and of medium build.
The Pacific Explorer is operated by Napier-based Pacific Trawling and was brought to New Zealand from Peru two years ago.
Napier police said Mr Brown was a member of the Pacific Explorer's crew but Mr Batey told the Herald yesterday that Mr Brown was unemployed and wanted by police when he disappeared.
He said warrants for Mr Brown's arrest had been issued but they were not for serious offences. "It wasn't like he was wanted for murder."
