By SCOTT INGLIS
Marie Jamieson was living in an Auckland halfway house for people with alcohol and drug problems when she was murdered.
The house in Methuen Rd, Avondale, is run by the Wings Trust.
Marie Jamieson had an alcohol problem and had been drinking the night she vanished.
The 23-year-old was last seen between New North and Newton Rds in central Auckland after drinks with friends on Saturday night, February 10. She was supposed to have caught a bus back to the halfway house.
Her decomposing body was found in a lonely resting place behind a factory in Mihini Rd, Ranui, on Monday. She was identified yesterday through dental records.
Details of her alcohol problem emerged yesterday with other information about her.
She left Stephen Marr Hair Design last October after working there for nearly two years, and probably went to the support house voluntarily. Wings Trust runs homes for people who are about to enter or have left residential programmes such as Odyssey House.
Marie Jamieson's family would not comment on the issue.
The officer leading the hunt for her killer, Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Franklin, has confirmed that a weapon was used, but it has not been found. He refused to say what the weapon was or the cause of death.
Testing would take place to establish if Marie Jamieson had been sexually assaulted.
Asked if she was clothed or naked, he replied: "At this point all I can say is there was clothing with the body at the scene. I'm not prepared to discuss details of the scene examination until we've finished it."
Detectives are building a profile of her and her movements in the three days before she vanished, and are interviewing her associates.
Detective Senior Sergeant Franklin said police still did not know:
If she was killed where she was found, or dumped there.
If she caught a bus that night.
Whether she knew her killer or killers.
When she died and how long her body had lain behind the factory.
"It is a mystery. It is a whodunit."
It is possible that she went back to the halfway house on the bus to make her 10 pm curfew, met others or could even have gone to a party.
That Saturday night, she and three friends went to the Tonic Bar on the corner of Symonds St and Newton Rd.
The Herald has learned that the group stayed there for about 20 minutes. Marie Jamieson had one glass of white wine and the group played a game of pool before leaving.
After parting with her friends, Marie Jamieson went to Hentys Wines and Spirits on New North Rd and bought a bottle of KGB.
She then vanished.
Yesterday, four members of her family - parents Gerry and Yvonne, brother Mike and sister Pam Nakovics - fought tears as they told of a loving, supportive, beautiful young woman. Gerry Jamieson said: "We're a very close family. It's devastating."
Marie Jamieson grew up around Rotorua, went to boarding school and spent a year in America as a Rotary youth exchange student. She was always close to her family.
She had five brothers and sisters.
Gerry Jamieson said: "For any family in these circumstances, this has got to be the most tragic thing. We've all seen it on TV before, we've all sympathised with other families and right now it's our turn."
A memorial service will be held in the Auckland Domain at 3 pm tomorrow and the funeral will take place in Whakatane.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from New Zealand
Supreme Court decision to name sex offender a ‘massive victory’, survivors say
The man raped and sexually assaulted six women. His name can be published on June 14.