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The body of a 15-year-old girl found dead in Kerikeri was lying behind the house of a man who played her father in a pantomime, who is said to be devastated by her death.
Liberty Rose Templeman, a keen drama student, played the lead female role of Princess Jasmine in Sinbad the Sailor last month. Bob Wolff played her father, the Sultan.
Friends said Mr Wolff was devastated at the tragic death of Liberty, who he got to know during months of rehearsals.
Locals say it is the first homicide in the close-knit Northland tourist town in at least 20 years.
Liberty, known as Libby, was last seen about 7pm on Saturday when a friend left her outside Kerikeri High School.
She is believed to have been going to walk across the school grounds and the Kerikeri Domain to meet her boyfriend at the nearby New World supermarket, where he worked.
But she did not arrive.
Police found her body on Sunday evening lying face down near Wairoa stream, next to an overgrown citrus orchard off Cobham Rd.
Police would not say if she was killed there or if her body had been taken there.
Far North police area commander Inspector Chris Scahill said a post mortem investigation was finished last night.
"The results indicate that her death was not accidental and police will not be making any further comment on the results," he said.
Her body was found clothed, but officers were not saying yesterday how she died. They also refused to say if she had been sexually attacked.
Kerikeri Players president Averley Whiston said the whole cast of Sinbad the Sailor was devastated by Liberty's death.
"She was a really nice person, she was our star ... She sang beautifully on the stage.
"We all feel quite sick about the whole thing - it's just absolutely ghastly ... I just hope they find the person who did it. We're not used to murders in Kerikeri."
A video of Liberty and a friend, Connor Brough, shows the pair dancing, jumping on a bed and using aerosol cans as microphones while singing Miley Cyrus' See You Again.
The former year 10 student at Kerikeri High School was to have started at Rangitoto College on Auckland's North Shore yesterday.
Her parents, Andrew and Rebecca, and her younger brother Billy moved to Kerikeri from England about two years ago.
They shifted to Browns Bay recently because Mr Templeman's job as a property valuer had not been as busy as expected.
Liberty stayed in Kerikeri for the pantomime, and joined her parents last month. She returned to the town at the weekend to stay with friends.
Residents at their former home on a lifestyle block just out of Kerikeri said the family were devastated.
The fluffy pink and blue curtains that decorated Liberty's former room were still in place.
The new owner of the home said: "It feels a bit funny because she's a really good girl, wasn't off the rails or anything. Poor people, it's turned their world upside down, hasn't it?"
Another upset neighbour who was closer to the family described Liberty as "just beautiful".
Kerikeri High School principal Elizabeth Forgie said trauma counselling teams had begun working with students yesterday morning.
"It's certainly been a really, really tough day," she said.
"Everyone's very shocked. We're very shocked, we're very upset. She was a well-liked and really talented drama student and she was a good student."
Mrs Forgie said a letter had been sent to the school's 1300 students yesterday, warning parents to be vigilant about their children's safety.
Mr Scahill described the murder as a "hugely tragic event".
He said there was "nothing to indicate" that Liberty had been drinking, and she had never come to police attention before she was reported missing.
Reports of screams in the area on Saturday night were among a "variety of different incidents" police were investigating.
But such reports were normal for a Saturday night, Mr Scahill said.
Nearby resident Chris Price said some "degenerates" had been hanging around in the area where Liberty's body was found.
Liberty's body was removed on Sunday night, and a post mortem examination was to be made in Auckland today.
* Witness appeal
Police are keen to hear from anyone who was in the Cobham Rd, Hone Heke Rd and Inlet Rd areas on Saturday night. Call 0800 COBHAM (0800 262-426).
Police are keen to hear from anyone who was in the Cobham Rd, Hone Heke Rd and Inlet Rd areas on Saturday night. Call 0800 COBHAM (0800 262-426).
