Shock in murdered German woman's home town

News of the murder of German tourist Birgit Brauer has shocked people in her home community in the former East German town of Dresden.

Ms Brauer died from multiple injuries, including significant head injuries and a stab wound to the chest.

The hitchhiker's body was found by a jogger near Lucy's Gully in Egmont National Park, near New Plymouth, on Tuesday evening.

The 28-year-old had been in this country since February on a working holiday.

The Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten (Dresden's local newspaper) police reporter, Thomas Harewig, said the news of Ms Brauer's death had shocked the community in the former East German town.

Mr Harewig said Ms Brauer had lived in a newly established suburb of Prohles, in an apartment block.

While the news of the young woman's death had come as a shock and tainted New Zealand's image in Germany, Mr Harewig said German people experienced crime in their own country and did not expect other places to be any different.

Police said yesterday they were hunting for a 4WD Toyota Hilux station wagon in connection with the killing.

Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward said the vehicle was a dark grey or black, mid to late 80s two-door model.

Mr Coward said police were focusing inquiries on the vehicle.

"That was the last vehicle that she was seen getting into, in Waitotara (34km north-west of Wanganui)," he told National Radio today.

"It was around about 9.30am on the intersection in the middle of Waitotara there. She was seen getting into that vehicle and that's the last sighting of her."

Hundreds of vehicles of the type being sought were still on the roads, and police were appealing to the public for help to track them down.

For example, someone whose neighbour had one of the target vehicles might have noticed their neighbour acting differently during the past week, he said.

Police also wanted to hear from anyone in the area with a vehicle fitting the description of the one being sought.

Police were planning to be out in force in the area at 9.30am tomorrow, a week after Ms Brauer was last seen, but a final decision on that had still to be made, Mr Coward said.

The German consulate had encouraged police to not make personal contact with Ms Brauer's family.

"We've offered our condolences and we feel for them at this time but because of the language difficulties they would prefer that we didn't try to communicate with them."

A New Zealand police liaison officer based in London had gone to Germany to carry out inquiries on behalf of the family.

Apparently Ms Brauer's family would not be coming to this country. The German consulate were arranging for the dead woman's body to be sent back to Germany.

While there was no evidence Ms Brauer had been attacked sexually, police were not ruling it out, Mr Coward said.

"There may well have been. There's certainly no physical evidence of it but when you're looking for a motive that can't be ruled out."

- NZPA