A man accused of murdering a young woman whose body was found at the popular McLaren Falls Park has had his name kept secret.
Natasha Bridget Hayden was found dead about 1pm on January 10 at McLaren Falls Park in the Kaimai Range 21km from Tauranga. She was discovered in her
parked red Mazda Familia car.
A 25-year-old unemployed man was arrested and charged with her murder yesterday morning and appeared in Tauranga District Court in the afternoon.
His lawyer, Matthew Goodwin, successfully sought name suppression for his client to protect his family's identity.
Judge Ian Thomas made an interim suppression order of the man's name until his next appearance on Tuesday.
The man was remanded without plea in custody.
Inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner said after the man's court appearance the arrest was a relief.
"It was quite rewarding for the inquiry team to be able to tell Natasha's family and husband of the arrest this morning," he said.
He thanked the "great support from the media and the public" that helped the police conduct their inquiry and said he was pleased an arrest had been made.
"The husband and parents are extremely relieved that this has been brought to a conclusion as quickly as it has."
Mr Turner would not comment on exactly how the 24-year-old had died or give any indication of the results of the forensic tests carried out on Mrs Hayden's body.
