KEY POINTS:
A man's body lies in the Christchurch morgue still unidentified a week after it was found washed up on a rugged West Coast beach.
Police said today they had taken a number of calls from the public but had no firm leads and the man's identity remained a
mystery.
They believe the man, aged about 30, was not from the West Coast and was probably not a South Islander. He may well be an overseas visitor.
Tourists stopping at a sightseeing spot along the rugged coastline north of Punakaiki last Wednesday found the man's naked body at the high tide mark on a beach near Meybille Bay. He was wearing only a wristwatch.
A post mortem examination in Christchurch ruled out assault as a cause of death but was unable to confirm the man had drowned.
Police are awaiting toxicology and other tests on the body.
Detective Constable Graham Parsons, of Greymouth police, said today calls from the public nominating possible identities were still trickling in, but police had been able to eliminate them all.
One woman convinced a description of the man matched that of her missing son had viewed the body at the Christchurch morgue. She had been relieved to confirm the body was not her son's.
Police today reissued an identikit of the man and pictures of clothing found on the beach near his body in the hope of jogging the memories of anyone who may have seen him on the West Coast or elsewhere in the country.
Items of clothing found near the body included a blue polar fleece jacket, a large red-white-and-blue T-shirt, a grey and maroon sweatshirt with a university logo and a grey/green jersey.
The man was a Caucasian with olive skin, about 170cm tall and of stocky build. He had short brown hair and was unshaven, with a goatee-style beard.
Mr Parsons said police still wanted information about a man of similar description seen walking north on the road between Greymouth and Punakaiki in the two weeks before the body was found.
He was wearing loose fitting clothes and carrying a distinctive large cylindrical blue or green coloured bag about a metre long, described as similar to a sailbag. He was seen in a red and blue sleeping bag camped on a beach north of Punakaiki on October 18.
Mr Parsons said police had a "number of theories" on how the man might have met his death, but there was no indication of foul play or suspicious circumstances.
A coroner's inquest would eventually be held even if the body was never identified.
Mr Parsons said police had pretty much covered all bases and were considering putting out a notice to Interpol in case the man was from overseas.
However, police had been advised that the chances of such a notice successfully identifying the body were "limited".
- NZPA
