HOKITIKA - Police have found traces of a campsite just a few hundred metres from where David Robinson's body was washed up on a remote South Westland beach, but say they cannot be sure he was killed there.
Mr Robinson, aged 25, was dead up to four weeks before his body
was found with a bullet hole in the forehead just after Christmas on Kakapotahi Beach, near Ross, 31km southwest of Hokitika.
Police have found campsites thought to have belonged to the man, described as a loner, spread over several kilometres around the area.
Inquiry head Detective Sergeant Rob Nicholl said the closest was just 500m from where Mr Robinson's body was found while others had been found up to 6km away.
Detective Sergeant Nicholl said it was possible Mr Robinson had been killed not far from where his body was found and, after falling into a river, his body had washed out to sea a few hundred metres before being pushed back by the tide.
But that was just one scenario and the question of where exactly Mr Robinson had met his death was still largely unknown.
Police have searched over a 40km area for clues but have failed to find any of his belongings, including a knapsack he was known to carry.
But Detective Sergeant Nicholl said the area was rugged and covered in dense bush and scrub in some areas so it was not surprising that Mr Robinson's belongings were proving hard to find.
He said the police knew that Mr Robinson had been in Ross late on December 1 but did not know much about his movements after that.
Being a loner, Mr Robinson had kept away from others and travelled mostly by night, using beaches as his highway.
A mail drop across Westland has prompted a number of people to come forward with information they think might help. - NZPA
