Body's identity confirmed

The children of Masterton man Trevor Searancke last night learned the body discovered near Carterton on Sunday is that of their father.
His son, Andrew Searancke, said Masterton police yesterday completed a formal identification of the body found amid blackberry bushes about 5km east of Carterton and last night confirmed the body is that of their father Trevor, 53, who had been missing since February 16.
Mr Searancke said family and friends have gathered in the town since police and search and rescue volunteers found the body on Sunday afternoon and "there hasn't been much sleep for everyone involved".
He said the family has not yet been told of the possible cause of death or any details of a police examination of the site.
"It is a partial relief that he's been found after so long to finally know. It would be good to know more details about how he came to be there and after such a long time of being uncertain, to have full closure."
His sister Nadine has now returned to her Wellington home after spending time with their mother, Denise Murray, in Masterton while awaiting identification of the body and there is also a possibility their sister Renee may return from England to be with family.
His father was a man of "too many good qualities" to count, who had been an influential and steadfast figure in all their lives, Mr Searancke said.
His father suffered Huntington's disease, a rare and incurable neurological disorder that progressively worsens while causing uncontrollable, jerky and random movements.
He served as a Carterton district councillor for three terms from 1989 to 1998 and had also won other high-profile positions in Masterton as a polytechnic adult literacy tutor and a veteran Waingawa freezing worker and union delegate.