Bay of Plenty shooting victim from Hokianga

By Natasha Harris and NZPA
A woman shot dead near Tauranga in a brutal double-murder case is from Hokianga.
Toni-Anne Nathan, 39, was shot early Monday along with her 42-year-old partner Mikaere (Michael) Douglas O'Sullivan under the Wairoa River bridge, 15km north of Tauranga.
Tauranga police Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner said Ms Nathan came from Opononi but had settled in Omokoroa, in the Western Bay of Plenty, to live with Mr O'Sullivan.
He did not know how long Ms Nathan had lived away from Hokianga.
Mr Turner said the couple had no children and Ms Nathan's parents had been notified of her death.
Opononi businesses and Nathan families in the area told The Northern Advocate they did not know the woman.
A hunt for the couple's killer continues.
Police believe Mr O'Sullivan and Ms Nathan made a high-speed journey from west Auckland to Tauranga before they met their deaths.
Their bodies were found by kayakers around 6.45am on Monday under the Wairoa River bridge.
One body was found slumped over the steering wheel of a silver Nissan Skyline and the other lay on a gravel road near the car's rear passenger door.
The bodies were fully clothed.
It is believed the car belonged to Ms Nathan or Mr O'Sullivan.
Speaking from nearby Wairoa Marae, Karen Rahiri of Ngati Kahu said about 300 people lived in the surrounding community and many were very worried about the prospect of a gunman being on the loose.
"It's a shock to the whole community, this," he said.
"We had a bereavement here and buried the person on Sunday so we didn't know anything apart from (what was happening on) the marae because we had thousands of people here from all over."
Locals were devastated, he said.
The marae was to have hosted an event celebrating the Melbourne Cup yesterday but it was cancelled after the discovery of the bodies.
"When something like that happens, the marae shuts down. Whoever was murdered down there, we have got to pay respect to the family that is living and shut everything down."
Once police investigations were complete, local Maori would go down to the murder scene to say prayers and bless the area.
Yesterday a specialist police dive squad scoured a section of the Wairoa River in search of the firearm used in the slayings.
Leader of the Wellington-based team, Senior Sergeant Bruce Adams, said the divers would work shoulder-to-shoulder near the riverside murder scene.
"It will be a slow and methodical search," Mr Adams said.
"If you've seen police searching on land in a line on their hands and knees, well that's what we will be doing in the water."
Tidal flows and visibility could determine how long the search took.
Meanwhile, Mr Turner believed the murders were a "random incident" and that residents had "nothing to fear".
Mr Turner would not speculate on why the duo had been at the secluded site, which was well known for criminal activities.
"We are keeping an open mind," he said.
It was unclear whether drugs had been a factor in the murder but another vehicle was thought to have been seen in the area at the time.
"We are still trying to firm up details on this second vehicle," Mr Turner said.
Police would not reveal where the victims had been shot but have narrowed the time of the shooting to between 2am and 4am.
"We will be focusing on background inquiries to identify associates, movement and lifestyles of our two victims," Mr Turner said.
"It would appear as though people heard shots. Police were not contacted which, rightly or wrongly, is not unusual in rural areas in New Zealand these days."