Police investigating the killing of a man at a remote campground in the central North Island say the case is not closed, despite their relief that a young person has been charged with the murder.
Police arrested a young man in Hastings on Thursday. Photo:
Adrian Humphreys' body was discovered at the remote Bushlands Campground at Tāngarākau in May.
The accused has been remanded in custody to a youth facility and will appear in the High Court in New Plymouth later this month.
Detective senior sergeant Brent Matuku said while the arrest was a significant development, police still had work to do.
"We do believe there are still other people with information about Adrian's death who we need to talk to. They need to do the right thing and come forward and speak to us."
Humphreys' body was found 97 days ago, shortly after sunrise on 7 May at the campground off State Highway 43, about a 1.5 hour drive south from Taumaranui or a 2.5 hour drive from New Plymouth.
The 57-year-old had travelled from his Rotorua home to the camp.
Police have not released details of how he died.
Matuku said the arrest was made possible by hard work carried out by police, including by the national dive squad, and by the Tāngarākau community.
"It's a very close-knit community and it's been a very difficult and turbulent time that they've been through in [waiting for] the police getting to this result."
He said police had been in touch with Humphreys' family in the UK throughout the investigation.
Humphreys' sister Taresa Keatley travelled to Rotorua for the funeral of the anaesthetic technician and in July made a public plea for information about his death.
Via police, she said the loss of her brother continued to have a major impact on his family.
"The news that someone has been arrested for his murder is encouraging and we hope that justice will be served for Adrian's sake and for the safety of other good New Zealanders - we sincerely hope Adrian has not died in vain," she said.
Stratford District Council rural ward councillor Amanda Harris said the arrest removed a weight from the shoulders of the Tāngarākau community.
"There has been from what I can see a lot of relief here that somebody has been arrested. As has been well documented it has been a very long time [since Adrian Humphreys' body was found]. Not to say nothing's been happening, but it's certainly a relief today."
Harris, who lives in nearby Whangamōmona, said the community was impressed with the police operation.
"They had faith in what the police were doing, a lot of them were in awe of what had been done and the work that had been happening, so they did have faith that it would hopefully eventuate in an arrest.
"There was some uncertainty for a while, but that's just natural in a case like that I expect, so I think a lot of them perhaps thought if there was any immediate danger from it being someone in the local area then that would have been portrayed."