Update Meremere body
Responding to a series of questions on delays in identifying a body found in the Waikato River over the weekend Waikato Police warn it could be some time before an identification can be completed.
Waikato Crime Services Manager, Detective Inspector Russell Le Prou, said given the circumstances the body was found in identification could be a long and drawn out process.
"Unfortunately public perceptions can be driven by impressions formed by popular media. It's not a case where someone in a white coat solves the mystery in an hour and three add breaks, there are rafts of examinations to be done by pathologists and other experts before we'll know this person's identity.
"When that has been established Police owe it to the deceased's family to inform them first that their loved one has been identified and allow them time to inform extended family before releasing the name publicly."
Mr Le Prou said the post-mortem examination was scheduled in Auckland for some time later today but it may be some time, if at all, before an identification is established.
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