Police have made a potential breakthrough in the identity of a man found dead in Christchurch’s Heathcote Valley more than two weeks ago. Photo / Canterbury Police
Police have made a potential breakthrough in the identity of a man found dead in Christchurch’s Heathcote Valley more than two weeks ago. Photo / Canterbury Police
Police have made a potential breakthrough in identifying a man found dead in Christchurch’s Heathcote Valley more than two weeks ago.
Detective Sergeant Chris Power said police had received “positive information” about the man found on Horotane Valley Rd on September 19.
“We would like to thank thecommunity that has come forward with information, which has greatly assisted us in our enquiries” Power said.
He said formal identification of the man “could still take some time”.
Police said the man’s death was not being treated as suspicious.
Police staff search Duncan Park in Heathcote Valley on September 22.
It said the investigation had been examining all avenues to identify the deceased man, including whether he was a visitor to New Zealand.
Police cars near the entrance to Duncan Park in Heathcote Valley on September 22.
On September 25, Detective Senior Sergeant Karen Simmons said police had sought global assistance through the International Criminal Police Organisation, or Interpol.
“We have supplied biometric data such as fingerprints, photos and DNA profiles to Interpol to be checked against records in other countries,” Simmons said at the time.
“The man is thought to be in his 30s or 40s, with a distinctive birthmark on his left forearm.
“When located, he was wearing a black, long-sleeve woollen jersey, black trousers and grey tramping boots.”
Earlier, police had released photographs of items the mystery man was carrying with him when he was discovered.
The items include grey, black, and yellow gloves, a Powerade-branded drawstring bag and a bike pump, found inside a foreign-branded Sweed black backpack.
The Herald looked further into the items the man was carrying and found a similar Sweed-branded backpack on the South Korean fashion website GVG.
The backpack found with the man. Photo / Canterbury Police
Although the bag could be shipped to New Zealand from GVG, there was no retail presence of stores in NZ selling the branded backpack.
The logo on the backpack that was found with the man. Photo / Canterbury Police
A black bike pump was also one of the items found, branded as a Blackburn ‘Shorty Comp Mountain Pump’.
The specific bike pump was not currently listed on the Blackburn website; however, a similar Blackburn bike pump could be purchased from Torpedo7 for $27.99.
A Powerade-branded drawstring bag was also with the man and was made by NZ company AMS.
The Powerade brand is owned by the globally renowned Coca-Cola Company and sold in more than 80 countries worldwide.
