KEY POINTS:
Fugitive father and murder suspect Nia Yin Xue is running out of time in America, says a senior Washington- based New Zealand police officer.
Superintendent Neville Matthews, the New Zealand police liaison officer in America, said today a high level of intelligence was flowing between America and New
Zealand and several American law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had thrown a large level of manpower and resources into the search.
Mr Xue, 54, fled to Los Angeles last Saturday after abandoning his three-year-old daughter Qian Xue in the Southern Cross railway station in Melbourne.
Several days later the body of his wife, Anan Liu, 27, was found stuffed in the boot of his car outside the family home in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill.
Mr Matthews told NZPA today the Americans "had put a considerable amount of effort, much more than we could ever have hoped for, into locating this person."
The hunt was being co ordinated by the US Marshall's Pacific South West Fugitive Task Force - which combined several law enforcement agencies.
"The whole case has certainly captured the law enforcement community over here, certainly in the Los Angeles area and they really want to get this guy."
He said he was not surprised but very pleased at the American response to the requests from New Zealand for help in tracking down Mr Xue.
A provisional arrest warrant was likely to be signed today, if it had not already been signed, but that was not needed to get the cooperation of the American authorities, Mr Matthews said.
He said an American immigration and customs enforcement team was on the case from the outset, with up to 15 officers.
"It was amazing and their effort has been absorbed into the task force.
"The FBI was in touch with me and they offered to put four teams (each with five or six agents) out of the Los Angeles area onto this also - a very large commitment .
"It really has been an incredible amount of co operation. I can't say enough about the excellent cooperation we have received."
Mr Matthews said American authorities had thrown such a high level of resources into the search, partly because New Zealand had a police liaison officer in the country, but also because it was not a run of the mill case.
"Law enforcement officers are human and they are thinking, 'gee that was a terrible thing, let's go out and see if we can get this guy' and that has permeated right through in the talks I have had with the officers involved.
"It has become almost a personal thing - let's track this guy down and let's do it as quickly as we possibly can."
Mr Matthews said in a city like Los Angeles with an estimated Chinese population of 400,000, intelligence was crucial.
"Because it is such a large city - 64 cities combined into one - you have got to focus your investigation based on the intelligence received."
He said he was very confident Xue would be found.
National and global news agencies were running the story and Xue's photograph had been published on the front page of Chinese newspapers in Los Angeles today.
"The obvious message I would have for him is that it is time now to turn yourself into the nearest police authority and take the matter from there because you will be found.
"I have got the utmost confidence he will be found."
Mr Matthews said the Interpol "red notice" issued by Interpol at New Zeland's request showed he was suspected of murder, had fled to America and every police agency needed to be on the lookout for him.
- NZPA
