A post-mortem examination was carried out on Friday to help Waikato Police work to identify a body found on the coast near Raglan yesterday.
District Field Crime Supervisor, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead, said the examination will take place in Auckland and one of its aims will be to establish the person’s identity.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead, said today results of a post-mortem examination carried out in Auckland yesterday could not throw any light on the man’s identity.
“Due to the state of the body, fingerprints taken were inconclusive and we are now looking at establishing the identity through DNA analysis which will take some time,” he said.
The death has been reported to the coroner.
Mr Whitehead said the body was discovered by an overseas tourist in a tidal cave at the north end of Ruapuke Beach, near Swann Access Rd, about 11.15am.
There is speculation that the reamins are from the diver went missing at Gannet Isalnd near Ruapuke a few weeks ago. District field crime supervisor Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead said police hoped the examination would help establish the man’s identity and cause of death.
“It is likely DNA analysis will be required to achieve this,” he said.
Police said they were unsure if the head and limbs had been removed, or simply come off in the water.
They could not say if it was the body of a diver who disappeared on November 7.
Te Awamutu father-of-four John Lindsay, 36, was never found after he went missing during a dive with friends and family at Gannet Island, a popular diving spot 19km off Raglan.
He was wearing a full wetsuit and police said if the body found yesterday was that of the diver, they were unsure how it came to be naked.