Police are investigating after a body found was in a burned-out car in a Havelock North riverside carpark. Video / Neil Reid
WARNING: Contains content some people may find upsetting
A dog walker who discovered the body of a woman in a burnt-out car says police who attended initially told him the remains were of a sheep.
Police announced on Monday afternoon that they had launched an investigation into an "unexplained death".
The vehicle was first discovered on Saturday morning in the River Rd carpark, on the outskirts of Havelock North and near some of Hawke's Bay's most prestigious vineyards.
The car where the body was discovered in was removed from the site this morning. Photo / Neil Reid
But on Monday, a dog walker took a closer look at it and made the grisly discovery of a woman's body in the burnt-out wreck, alerting police to again take a closer look at it.
"I started picking up all the melted bits of aluminium around the car. As I was doing that I noticed inside the car what to me looked like a corpse," the Hastings man told the Herald.
"Instantly, I yelled out to the first person near me who was also walking a dog, 'Hey, there's a body in the back'.
"He looked at another dog walker, and both of these two dudes waltzed over to the car and said, 'We have already heard about it mate, it's been here since Saturday. It is just a dog'."
The man said he "wasn't convinced" that the remains were those of an animal.
He took a closer look and discovered a woman's body which was lying "face down behind the driver's seat".
A police cordon has been set up at the carpark where the grisly discovery was made. Photo / Neil Reid
"I could see a shape that looked like a human," he said.
"I noticed she had a silver chain around her neck. So I managed to free that up a little bit, and then leaned inside the car.
"I leaned in the window so I was over the top of the body, grabbed her hip bone and chain and lifted her torso and head so that she was lying across the back seat.
"She had shoulder-length hair, the necklace, and I could see [some of her facial features]. I knew it was a human."
The man said it was clear that the woman had "multiple bone fractures".
He immediately called police and urged them to rush to the scene.
When officers arrived, he said they told him that they were already aware of the wreck and said that the remains were those of an animal.
"They sent someone down," he said. "They waltzed on down [to the carpark] and it was like, 'We have already heard about it. It is a sheep'.
"I lost it, I had already exposed her face, and said, 'Does a sheep have shoulder-length hair? Does a sheep wear a necklace?'.
"That is when the two officers went and had a look and asked me to stand back."
A police spokesperson confirmed they received their initial report about the burnt car about 10am on Saturday.
The fact a human body was in there was not discovered until Monday.
"Staff attended and due to the condition of the vehicle and debris from the fire, did not immediately identify that human remains were in the cabin of the car," the spokesperson said.
"A subsequent inspection of the vehicle revealed suspected human remains."
The spokesperson said the investigation was still in the "very early stages".
"Staff are working to determine the timeline of events and circumstances of the death.
Police comb through bush at the River Rd reserve this morning. Photo / Neil Reid
"A post-mortem is expected to be carried out today which will assist Police with identifying the deceased."
Police are reviewing CCTV footage to assist with their enquiry and said it was too early to speculate about the identity of the person, or the cause of death.
Eastern Police District Commander Jeanette Park said police will be reviewing the initial response.
"Our priority at the moment, is to identify this person, and to let their family know," she said.
The dog walker who made the discovery said it had been a harrowing experience.
Twenty-four hours from talking to the Herald, he said he had struggled to get what he saw out of his thoughts.
"I went for a big drive to Whanganui and back on Monday night to get some time to clear the mind," he said.
"What I found had just been on repeat in my mind. I examined that body for a long time, about 15 minutes, trying to work out everything. I saw everything."
The man said he feared if it hadn't been discovered the body was human, the car would have been sent to a scrapyard and there would be no chance the dead woman could be farewelled by loved ones.
