Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward, head of Operation Lucy, the investigation into the murder of 28 year old hitch hiker, Birgit Brauer says the response to the appeal to the public for sighting of Michael Scott Wallace has been tremendous. The phones have been ringing off the hook, our last count of the calls received was over a hundred. It will however take some time to follow up the information received and my team are working on that right now.
Without the public's assistance we would not have got to this stage in the investigation and I can only encourage the public to continue to study his photo and contact their local police with sighting or any information, no matter how small or insignificant they think it is. They can also contact the 0800 Crimestop (0800 274637) number and people can also contact us confidentiality at any time with information.
Operation Lucy's focus today
· Area canvas in Scott's Ferry and Tangimoana
· Enquires in the Horowhenua looking for Michael Wallace
· Team answering the numerous 0800 calls
· Follow ups regarding vehicle sightings
· Forensics tests are still ongoing
We need to locate Michael Scott Wallace [also known as Michael Jason Hemi or Allan Wallace]. My team and police networks throughout New Zealand are committed and working extremely long and hard hours to achieve a result. Obviously we need to speak to Mr Wallace.
We are confident we can find him with the help of the New Zealand public.
Description
· "Michael Scott Wallace is 44 years of age.
· He is a male Maori, but is sometimes mistaken for a Caucasian.
· He is of slim to medium build, and is about 180cm tall [5' 9"].
· He was last seen with dark curly hair, of collar length."
"We are still interested in the whereabouts of the camera, a Canon model and also in
sightings of the Toyota Hilux between September 24 and September 26 when it was last sighted in Tangimoana and abandoned in the Ohau River.
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