KEY POINTS:
Police have launched a homicide inquiry after a woman's weighted down body was recovered from a river southeast of Auckland.
The discovery was made by a father and son kayaking on the Wairoa River near Clevedon on Sunday afternoon.
Counties Manukau police said yesterday the body of the woman, aged between 30 and 50, was wrapped in bedding inside of which was a heavy weight.
An autopsy showed she had been in the water for about a week and was dead before being placed in the water.
Police said their priority was to identify the woman. She was 1.55m tall, weighed between 45-50kg, and had two front teeth missing. She was wearing a dark coloured T-shirt with white stripes around the neck and sleeves, and incontinence pants.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Gutry, last night said they were checking missing person files. He appealed to any member of the public who knew of anyone answering the description of the victim to come forward.
The Operation River investigation team and police dive squad would today examine the river and the surrounding area where the woman was found.
It is the second discovery of a weighted down body wrapped in bedding to be recovered from a river in just over a week.
The body of Michael Hutching, 18, was found wrapped in a mattress cover weighted down by steels bars in the Clutha River, near Balclutha, on January 12. A 37-year-old man and 29-year-old from Kaitangata, near Balclutha, have appeared in court accused of his murder.
- NZPA
