UPDATE 11.10AM: The man’s body taken down off the Mount overnight had been there for “quite some time” says Tauranga police senior sergeant Glenn Saunders.

Stuff is reporting the police have a good idea of who the man is but are working to formally identify him and contact next of kin.



A man’s body was found in bush on the north face

There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death, which has been referred to the coroner.

A member of the public was walking the moderate track when he was alerted by an unusual smell and went to investigate, says Glenn.

“It was in thick bush, not far from the track. If you didn’t stumble across it you wouldn’t know he was there,” he says.

Police were called at about 7.15pm and tracks around the Mount were closed until 11.30pm while the scene was investigated, before being re-opened last night after a man’s body was brought down off the mountain.

The tracks on the mount were also closed on October 20 and a cadaver dog brought in to do a shoreline search after another member of the public also reported an unusual odour in the area.

The dogs were focussed on a shoreline search as they looked for five-year-old Jack Dixon, who was swept into the sea off the northern side of the Mount on October 1, as well as Mount Maunganui man Stephen Michael Tracey.

Stephen, 37, failed to return home after telling his family he was going for a walk on Saturday September 27. He was last seen by someone who knows him on the beach, by Leisure Island, at 6pm on the 27th.

The dogs searched the shoreline from the Mount Maunganui Surf Lifesaving Club around to the beach area. It also included thorough searches of the base track, hill and bush area.

Earlier:

The body of a man was found on the Northern face of Mount Maunganui last night, resulting in police closing all walking tracks while emergency services dealt with the scene.

The body was discovered mid-way up the face of the mountain in thick bush by a member of the public at about 7.15pm, says Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders of Tauranga police.

“Due to the remote location Search and Rescue and fire were called in to assist with the recovery,” says Glenn.

Walking tracks were closed during the operation and re-opened about 11.30pm. The death has been referred to the coroner.