Police have quashed rumours that the body of missing Palmerston North man Brett Hall has been found in the Whangaehu River, south of Wanganui.
Police spokeswoman Kim Perks said there had been rumours circulating in Wanganui that police had found Mr Hall's body, but that was not correct.
"The rumours
are likely to have stemmed from a report received by police on Tuesday evening (June 14) of a possible body in the Whangaehu River by a bridge on Kauangaroa Road."
The site was guarded overnight and on Wednesday morning the police dive squad from Wellington searched the area.
"They recovered a pair of waders in the water and mud underneath the bridge, which appeared on first sight to be a partially submerged body," Ms Perks said.
Mr Hall, described as having a "chequered past", went missing from his Pitangi Track lifestyle block, north of Wanganui, three weeks ago. Police fear that he may be a victim of foul play.
His disappearance featured on TVNZ's crime show Police Ten-7 last week, and during the weekend police were stopping motorists on the Whanganui River Road asking for information.
"The disappearance of Mr Hall is still very much an active homicide investigation with over 30 staff working on the investigation," Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Kirby said today.
"It concerns me that such rumours may have a detrimental impact in terms of people coming forward with information."
As a result of media publicity a number of associates of Mr Hall have contacted police, but Mr Kirby said it was known from enquiries that there were a number of other people who knew Mr Hall, or who had had recent contact with him, but had not come forward.
"We are working through a process of speaking to everyone who had associations with Brett. That process would be made a great deal easier if those people came to us rather than waiting for us to come to them," said Mr Kirby.
Mr Hall was paroled from prison in 2009 after serving a sentence of seven-and-a-half years for dealing "a variety of drugs", receiving and unlawfully possessing a pistol.
- NZPA
