Michael Murdoch, 44, of Ngāruawāhia, was found dead in his car in the Waikato River in 2024. Photo / NZ Police
Michael Murdoch, 44, of Ngāruawāhia, was found dead in his car in the Waikato River in 2024. Photo / NZ Police
The owners of a dive company that discovered a car submerged in the Waikato River with a dead body in it have provided insight into the procedural steps for its removal, and their motivation to bring “closure to whānau”.
Police recently identified the man found dead in his car asMichael Murdoch, 44, of Ngāruawāhia, who had been missing since September 2019.
Deep Dive Division – the company removing wrecked cars and hazardous material from the river – found Murdoch’s car, a red 2001 Nissan Skyline, on August 13, 2024.
It was found “north of the Pukete boat ramp”.
The company’s managing director Tua Karalus, told the Waikato Herald the morning of the search was “part of protocol”.
The organisation itself doesn’t look inside the vehicle; they are given a list of cars and registrations to look out for from Waikato police’s Search and Rescue team.
Before a car removal, the division “needs to investigate”.
“It’s vital that if we find any of these registrations ... we don’t touch or manipulate the vehicle at all.”
Their protocols include identifying the vehicle, its make and model, registration, and contacting search and rescue.
Michael Murdoch's 2001 Red Nissan Skyline, which was found in the Waikato River last year.
They know nothing about a vehicle before diving, only that it’s been involved in an incident.
“This one in particular was highlighted for us, if we ever found this one, to definitely get hold of police.
“That’s exactly what the team did.”
Karalus confirmed that the police dive team removed the vehicle, and locating the vehicle was just part of their wider Waikato River clean-up.
Hamilton-based company Deep Dive Division is committed to its “Beyond the Surface” kaitiakitanga salvage initiative, tackling cars and hazardous debris polluting the Waikato River’s water health and native species.
Since 2022, the team has removed 20 vehicles, a truck, five motorbikes, 28 e-scooters, whiteware, gaming machines, railway sleepers, tools and 33 tonnes of metal debris.
This week, police said, “Formally identifying Michael was a complex and lengthy process, due to having been in the river for a significant period of time.
“Michael’s death is being treated as unexplained and has been referred to the coroner.”
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakatāne.
