Gregory John Dufty went missing shortly after arriving on the Gold Coast. Photo: AAP / Queensland Police
Gregory John Dufty went missing shortly after arriving on the Gold Coast. Photo: AAP / Queensland Police
A New Zealander is being extradited to Queensland to face charges of murder and misconduct of a corpse alongside another the man who is accused of killing Kiwi mother Tara Brown.
The 27-year-old man, who will be extradited today, has been charged along with former bikie Lionel Patea, 24, overthe murder of missing father-of-two Greg Dufty.
Patea was charged with murdering Ms Brown in September.
Police said Ms Brown's car was run off the road and she was attacked while trapped in the wreckage down an embankment. It is alleged Patea used a cast-iron metal plate that had come loose from a footpath hydrant to hit her around the head until she was unrecognisable.
Queensland police said yesterday that Mr Dufty has not been seen since July.
The arrest of the 27-year-old New Zealander in Auckland yesterday come after police executed search warrants on seven addresses across the Gold Coast and interviewed 14 people.
Three other men are currently being interviewed but haven't been charged.
Patea is already in custody and will appear in Southport Magistrates Court on November 11.
A former bikie, Patea has links to the Bandidos gang, but police say this affiliation is not connected to the alleged murder.
Dufty, 37, was last seen in Ashmore, Gold Coast, on July 6 after parking his car at a seafood restaurant and then getting into a Mack truck heading to the Gold Coast hinterland.
The Daily Mail reported he had spent the day he was last seen with his former partner and their children, before he disappeared.
New Zealand-born Tara brown was beaten to death. Photo / Supplied
His disappearance came just days after his arrival on the Gold Coast from Darwin.
His body is yet to be found, with Australian police continuing to appeal for witnesses to the incident.
Detective Inspector Dave Hutchinson said Mr Dufty's family had been notified of the arrests and the search continued for his body.
"We've got some ideas but it's fair to say at this time we don't know where the body is and we haven't been able to locate it," Mr Hutchinson said.
"Certainly, we would dearly love to be able to locate the body and we would still make that public appeal; the fact that somebody's been charged makes no difference. We still believe there are people out there that know where the body is."
