Police still hunting man in hitchhiker murder case

Police want to talk to whoever dumped this stolen Toyota Hilux beside the Ohau River on Monday. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Forensic tests are continuing on a vehicle recovered in the hunt for the killer of German hitchhiker Birgit Brauer, as police seek the man last known to have had the vehicle.

The beaten and stabbed body of Ms Brauer, 28, was found at Lucy's Gully near Oakura in Taranaki on September 20. Ms Brauer's body was returning to Germany today and the thoughts of police were with her family who were to receive her.

Police searching for her killer are intent on locating the vehicle she was last seen getting into at Waitotara about 9.30am on the same day.

A Toyota Hilux found in the Ohau River near Levin on Wednesday matched the description of the vehicle being sought and is now undergoing forensic testing at the Levin police station.

It had been reported stolen to police by its registered owner, Himatangi businessman Brent Cleverley, in August.

He said it had been taken by an employee, who had used the vehicle in his job cutting firewood but had failed to return it.

Police would not identify the man but inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward today told NZPA police were still trying to find him.

"We're not saying he's linked to the crime, we're not saying he's the last person with the vehicle. What we do know is that he stole it back in August," Mr Coward said.

Police had yet to positively link the recovered vehicle to the killing.

Mr Cleverley said there was no way he could imagine his missing worker being connected with the killing of Ms Brauer.

In fact, he was worried something may have happened to the man.

"Somebody suggested that to me the other day and the thought really scares me," he said.

"He's a hard sort of guy. He's been through the mill. But he works hard, too -- he's a bloody good worker."

The man, in his mid-30s, used Mr Cleverley's grey Toyota Hilux when working on a firewood-cutting "sideline". Mr Cleverley operates from his home in Himatangi.

Both the employee, who had worked for Mr Cleverley for three or four months, and the vehicle vanished last month.

Mr Cleverley said he knew his employee had some issues to work through, but he wouldn't say what they were. Neither would he give the man's name, saying police had told him not to.

He had taken two weeks to report the vehicle missing because he didn't believe it was gone for good, Mr Cleverley said.

"I kept thinking that I'd look out the window one morning and there it would be, in the driveway."

Before reporting the vehicle stolen he had left a telephone message at his worker's home in Levin asking him to return the vehicle.

The missing worker is believed to have grown up in the Foxton-Himatangi area, but recently spent time in the South Island before returning north to Levin.

The Dominion Post reported today it had spoken to a Horowhenua man whom several Ohau residents believed was the man who had taken the vehicle.

The man denied knowing anything about Ms Brauer's death, Mr Cleverley or the vehicle.

But Mr Coward said today he was sceptical about whether the man spoken to by the newspaper was the one being sought.

Police were continuing to investigate reports of other vehicles fitting the description of the one being sought, he said.

In a development yesterday a farmer said he saw two vehicles drive up to the Ohau River on Monday night.

The farmer, who did not want to give his name, said he saw two vehicles drive down the track at 9.30pm on Monday.

"I was out checking on some animals when I heard roaring -- the first vehicle was having trouble to get through because it was so rough. Another one (vehicle) sat on the stop bank for about 10 minutes with its headlights on.

"The first vehicle drove right down to the river and shut down, it seemed the second one was waiting for someone to come out," he said.

Mr Coward also said extensive publicity had resulted in two more significant sightings the vehicle on the day Ms Brauer was murdered.

It was seen about midday on State Highway 45 in the Bayley Rd/Cape Egmont area on the day of her murder. There had been no sign to date of Ms Brauer's belongings, including two dark coloured packs.

- NZPA