Taumarunui Police have launched a homicide investigation after a man's body was discovered today in a shallow grave in Ongarue, a town approximately 20 kilometres north of Taumarunui.
A 57-year-old Taumarunui man has been arrested and charged with murder and is appearing in the Taumarunui District Court this afternoon.
The deceased is believed to be in his late 50s and Police will not be releasing any further details until a formal identification has taken place and next of kin has been informed.
Officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Kirby says that a team of 30 officers including forensic specialists are working on the investigation, which will take several days.
"No one else is currently being sought and police are satisfied that there are no grounds for ongoing concern in the community in relation to this incident," says Detective Senior Sergeant Kirby.
"A post-mortem will be conducted in the coming days and once this is completed we will have a clearer picture of how the man has died and the events leading up to his death."
Officers are in an information gathering phase and are making area inquires and speaking to witnesses.
"At this stage we are in the early days of our investigation and there is still a lot of information that we don't have. Our focus over the coming days is to return the man's body to his family and ascertain what has happened leading up to his death," says Detective Senior Sergeant Kirby.
Further updates will be released once more information becomes available.
Media enquiries should be referred to Communications Manager Sara Stavropoulos on 027 702 0850.