Police reveal murder victim worked in massage parlour

CHRISTCHURCH - Murder victim Lisa Ann Blakie worked recently in a Queenstown massage parlour and had Timaru gang connections.

The body of the 20-year-old Timaru woman was found on Sunday in the Porter River, close to a layby on State Highway 73 near Castle Hill, northwest Canterbury.

Her father, Doug Blakie, said yesterday that he had been "torn open" by the radio news item that reported the finding of a young woman's body.

Lisa had not returned his phone calls over the weekend.

When the mention came of identifying tattoos, he knew who the victim had to be.

"It just tears you open," he said. "How could anyone do this to a young woman?"

Life had been about to change for his daughter. She had intended travelling to Melbourne to join her mother and look for work.

Ms Blakie, known for her itinerant lifestyle, was last seen on Wednesday hitch-hiking on Main West Coast Rd after a taxi dropped her off at a service station.

Homicide inquiry head Detective Inspector Rob Pope said yesterday that inquiries into Ms Blakie's background showed she had connections with the massage parlour scene in Queenstown.

She also had "ongoing connections" with and knew people involved in Timaru gangs.

But Mr Pope cautioned the public against reading too much into her recent past. He said it was too early to draw any conclusions as to who was responsible for her death.

The homicide team has been expanded from the original group of 20 to 30 and is extending inquiries to Queenstown and Greymouth, where Ms Blakie was enrolled last year in a course at Tai Poutini Polytechnic.

Mr Pope said Ms Blakie was wearing a distinctive, bright purple cotton dress when her body was found by American tourists looking for a fishing spot. The dress was long with a back split, sleeveless, and had a low neck.

Several of her possessions were still missing, he said, including a cream or white suitcase with extendable hinges, a green Army kitbag, a green makeup case and a maroon velvet zip case.

Police wanted to know what had happened to her dog Kaos, a five-month-old Labrador terrier cross.

Mr Blakie said: "She absolutely loved Kaos. He must be somewhere."

As well as wanting to find the dog, Mr Blakie appealed for people who travelled in the area at the weekend to tell the police if they had seen anything.

Mr Pope said people had reported seeing a woman matching Ms Blakie's description, but it would take some time to confirm the sightings.

Police were no closer to discovering Ms Blakie's intended movements on the day she was last seen.

"That still remains open. It's important that we don't draw too early a conclusion as to what her intentions may have been. There are a number of possibilities."

Detectives were focusing on the four-day gap between when she was seen thumbing a ride and the time her body was found. Mr Pope said Ms Blakie's movements between Wednesday and Sunday were the prime focus of the inquiry.

Police had still to establish where Ms Blakie might have been heading to from Yaldhurst.

- NZPA