11.15 am
UDPATE - A 31-year-old South Auckland man appeared in Papakura District Court this morning charged with murdering an 18-year-old hitchhiker on Monday.
The man, who was granted interim name suppression, will reappear in court next Monday.
Police today named the dead woman as Jennifer Hargreaves, of Papakura, Auckland.
Detective Sergeant Mark
Gutry said Ms Hargreaves had left her home on Monday morning planning to hitchhike to Invercargill.
Police believe she accepted a ride from a man, and say they had numerous sightings of the pair in a car in the Papakura and South Auckland areas on Monday.
Ms Hargreaves body was found in a ditch half-filled with water at Patumahoe, 53km south of Auckland, on Monday evening after a witness reported having seen a man lying on top of a woman there.
Mr Gutry said the woman had suffered a number of injuries. He said police were still waiting for the results of a post mortem to determine the exact cause of death.
- NZPA
