Police find crashed car but no sign of armed fugitive

The stolen BMW car Nathan Fenton is believed to have crashed down a bank. Picture / Dean Purcell

The alleged killer of a Whangarei teenager has evaded an intensive police manhunt after crashing a stolen car off a remote road east of Russell.

Police found the stolen blue BMW coupe Nathan Fenton was driving 30m down a bank on a heavily forested inland scenic route - known locally as the Russell Forest Road.

There was no sign of 31-year-old Fenton or his travelling companion, Eileen Everitt, 28.

Fenton is wanted in connection with the August 27 murder of his 17-year-old girlfriend Mairina Dunn.

Police found the car upside down about 3km from a roadblock near an intersection with Kempthorne Rd.

Detective Senior Sergeant Marty Ruth, in charge of the Dunn murder investigation in Whangarei, said the car had been hard to see below the road.

It was taken to Whangarei for forensic and other tests. It was reported stolen from Auckland last Saturday.

Mr Ruth said Fenton and Everitt may have got round the cordon.

"From where the car was found, it is not too far as the crow flies to some of the side roads outside the cordon. But it's pointless speculating where they are because at this time we just don't know. They could be in the bush or have escaped on the side roads outside the cordon."

Far North area commander and search controller Detective Inspector Chris Scahill said there were no immediate signs of blood or injury at the crash scene.

An extensive scene examination might reveal more.

He said police had no idea where the fugitives might have gone after the crash.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

The search area is vast. The bush is thick and covers steep hills.

A police dog and members of the armed offenders squad were called in to try to pick up any trail while an aircraft searched the bush in a grid pattern from above.

The search will be reassessed this morning if Fenton or Ms Everitt are not found by then.

Police were last night also considering using infrared heat-seeking equipment to try to locate Fenton.

Detective Senior Sergeant Ruth said the Black Power member was armed and dangerous and should not be approached.

"If he's seen, just get on the phone. Don't approach the guy. Just use your common sense, observe him from a distance, ring in and let us know."

Mr Scahill said the Eagle police helicopter had infrared equipment but it was back in Auckland yesterday and no decision on whether to use the heat-seeking technology had been made.

Cordons, roadblocks and spikes were kept on the Old Russell Road last night.

At the main roadblock earlier in the day, police checked cars, campervans, farm utes, schoolbuses and even concrete trucks. Sometimes the armed officers joked with the driver asking: "You don't have a person in your boot, do you?"

At other times they simply said they were looking for a man and had to search the car, just in case.

The locals and tourists did not seem too inconvenienced by the search and some even offered their driver's licence and details before even coming to a stop.

In one car, two female tourists asked the officers if it was safe to drive to Russell and continued on warily after being given the all clear.

Others lingered, chatting about Fenton or where they were headed.

As the day went on, several of the vehicles had passed through the cordons more than once.

For the three officers manning the roadblock, the day was long. Having started at 4am, they were beginning to look weary by 5pm.

Each wore a bulletproof vest which, in the midday heat, looked uncomfortable, heavy and hot. They also had rifles slung over their shoulders and handguns strapped to their thighs.