Police revisit Whitford for Carmen clues

Carmen Thomas. Photo / Supplied

Police hunting for the killer of Carmen Thomas returned to a stretch of rural road in southeast Auckland yesterday to search for clues.

After initially saying the search had nothing to do with Operation Keppel because of confusion with an unrelated drugs search warrant, police last night confirmed that staff had returned to Sandstone Rd in Whitford.

Officers were seen looking through a grass verge on the rural road.

Spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said a small team of investigators spent 90 minutes there in the morning.

She did not expand on what they were looking for, saying only that "nothing of importance was found".

A week ago, police stopped hundreds of motorists on Sandstone Rd after a possible sighting of her car around the time she went missing on June 27.

The vehicle, with the registration ATS209, was later discovered in Dyer St, Hamilton, on July 13. Police believe it had been abandoned there on July 7 or 8.

It is not known how the car ended up in Hamilton from Auckland, although it could have been driven along backroads through Hunua to avoid being filmed by motorway CCTV cameras.

Detectives found enough blood inside the car to believe Ms Thomas had been murdered.

Her body has not been found but it is thought it has been dismembered and hidden in bush, possibly weighted with concrete, in ranges on the outskirts of Auckland.

Nearly two months after the 32-year-old was last seen, Detective Inspector Mark Benefield said police still did not know how she died, or where she was. But, he said, "we are making progress".

And Facebook has produced a new clue - evidence that Ms Thomas was alive at least 24 hours after the last confirmed sighting of her.

The New Zealand Herald this week found on Facebook a message that Ms Thomas sent to sick friends at 8.14pm on June 28 - 24 hours after the last confirmed sighting of her, at Greenlane Countdown about 7.10 the previous night.

The message said: "Get wel soon you two. lots of luv x."

A text was sent from her phone on July 3, but no one can confirm that Ms Thomas sent this.

Police are also in regular contact with Ms Thomas' former partner, Brad Callaghan, father of their 5-year-old son, Jack.

Can you help?

* Call 0800 KEPPEL (0800-537-735), email whereiscarmen@police.govt.nz or call Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800-555-111.

- staff reporter