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Police have identified the man whose body was found washed up on rocks in the Clutha River in South Otago, but will not name him publicly until his parents have been informed.
Detective Inspector Pinkham said the victim was an 18-year-old from Kaitangata.
A homicide inquiry was launched
after a post-mortem examination showed the man did not die of natural causes.
Police were continuing to examine the victim's house in Kaitangata in order to find out more information about his movements.
His associates had been interviewed, Mr Pinkham said.
He earlier refused to release any details about the state of the body when it was found about 3pm on Saturday near Stirling, 80km southwest of Dunedin.
Balclutha police, assisted by detectives from Dunedin and a ladder appliance from Dunedin Central Fire Station, worked late into the night to remove the body from the river.
Yesterday, four members of the national dive squad from Wellington arrived to survey the bottom of the river and nine members of the specialist search team from Christchurch began a grid search of the riverside in an effort to find forensic evidence.
Mr Pinkham said police were keeping an open mind as to whether there was a link to a crime scene elsewhere. The search team would investigate "a couple of areas outside" of where the body was found.
Acting Sergeant Craig Dinnissen of Balclutha said at the scene they had been able to quickly eliminate much of the riverside and focus on a "crucial area" of the bank from where it was believed the body entered the river.
"It [the body] has become stuck, beached on the rocks."
It was apparent from the way the body got into the river that the death was not a case of suicide, he said.
Investigators were seeking any information from the community.
Inch Clutha farmer Morris Storer said he had been in a boat checking sheep when he saw what he initially thought was a dummy close to the riverbank.
"After having a closer look, I saw it was the real thing," he told the Southland Times.
"I wasn't expecting that."
The body, which looked as if it had been in the river a few days, was wrapped in a sheet. One arm was hanging out, Mr Storer said.
"There was definitely big steel weights there underneath the body."
- OTAGO DAILY TIMES with NZPA
