Dryden Lodge deaths: Witness recalls his last sighting of Tania Ellwood and Timothy Hamilton

One of the last people to see Auckland actress Tania Ellwood alive has described seeing her walking outside a Grey Lynn boarding house with Timothy Kerr Hamilton the week before she was found dead.

"I thought that she was his girlfriend... people often sneak in their female companions," said a shocked worker who stumbled across the pair's bodies this week.

The bodies of Ellwood, 39, and Hamilton, 36, were found at Dryden Lodge on Tuesday.

A man at the property who came across the bodies before police were called in, said Hamilton had moved into the Lodge the week before.

"I showed him to his room," the man said.

"I got a good vibe from him. He seemed cool - I figured he was from the streets and just wanted a roof over his head."

Timothy Kerr Hamilton was found dead at the Dryden Lodge halfway house with Tania Ellwood. Photo / Facebook

The man, who did not want to be named, said Tania wasn't staying at the lodge at the time. He had, however, seen her with Hamilton shortly after he moved in.

"Both of them were walking on the street outside the boarding house last Tuesday or Wednesday."

Katrina Ellwood paid tribute to her sister in a Facebook post late on Thursday. Photo / Facebook

The man said he saw something the following Tuesday that made him suspicious. He knew something terrible had happened inside the room, so opened the locked door and went inside.

What he discovered upon entering, he said, was "too bad" to talk about.

"All i knew was that he was in the room. I didn't know that she was in there."

Tributes for Ellwood were being made online by family and friends today, as were those being made for Timothy Kerr Hamilton.

Katrina Ellwood paid tribute to her sister in a Facebook post late on Thursday.

"RIP by beautiful sis," she wrote with a photo with Ellwood.

"I love you with all my heart and I'm going to miss you every single day.

Two of Hamilton's nephews also paid tribute to their uncle.

"Rest in Peace Uncle Tim," Julian Rika said in a Facebook post.

"Gonna miss you and your crack-up jokes ... love you bro ... too early.

Speaking to the Herald earlier this morning, a resident living at the boarding house said the incident had come as a total shock.

He described the people living there as being like a "big family" and said to hear someone had died, was incredibly sad.

"We all keep to ourselves mainly. Everyone just seems to be getting over the shock."

The man, who had been living at the house for about a month said he had originally been staying in another boarding house owned by the same people.

He had moved because he had been badly bitten by bedbugs in the first accommodation.