Body on beach not yet identified

File photo / NZ Herald

Waikato police say it make take several days to identify the body of a man found on Waikato's west coast on Thursday.

The body was found in a coastal cave at the northern end of Ruapuke Beach, near Raglan, by someone out walking.

District field crime supervisor, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Whitehead, said today results of a post-mortem examination carried out in Auckland yesterday could not throw any light on the man's identity.

"Due to the state of the body, fingerprints taken were inconclusive and we are now looking at establishing the identity through DNA analysis which will take some time," he said.

The death has been reported to the coroner.

- NZPA