Man found dead in car in Waikato River had been missing since 2019
Photo:
RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Police have formally identified a man found dead in a car in the Waikato River nearly a year ago.
He was 44-year-old Michael Murdoch from Ngāruawāhia, who had been missing since 2019.
His body was found in his car last August by a company that removed wrecked cars and other hazardous materials from the river.
Police said the formal identification was a complex and lengthy process because Mr Murdoch had been in the river for so long.
They were treating his death as unexplained and it had been referred to the coroner.
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