Identikit Pictures Released

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32209, 30 January 1970, Page 1

Identikit Pictures Released

The Dunedin police yesterday released these Identikit pictures of the man they want to question about the death of Miss Jennifer Beard, the 25*year*old schoolteacher ifrom Tasmania whose body was found beneath the Haast River bridge on January 19.

It took two policemen working in Dunedin several days to prepare the pictures.

The last persons known to have seen Miss Beard alive were two Dunedin families travelling south from Fox Glacier on December 31. The police have used the information they gave to make up the pictures. The families saw Miss Beard with a man described as being in his mid-forties, between sft 6in and sft 9in, with receding dark-brown hair. He had a prominent stomach. The car in which he and Miss Beard were travelling was a mid-green to darkgreen Vauxhall made between 1953 and 1957. It had an unkempt appearance, with white paint or primer on the passenger’s front door. IMMEDIATE CALLS

Detective Senior-Sergeant P. J. O’Donovan said that the Christchurch Criminal Investigation Branch received some calls from members of the public after the pictures were shown on television. “But we have had terrific response from persons who were in the Haast area about this time,” he said. The information given by them included some that was fresh, but much of it had been given previously, and there had been no dramatic development. The Wellington police last evening reported a widespread public response to the telecast pictures, says the Press Association. Immediately persons began telephoning the Wellington C. 1.8. to report sightings of men they thought resembled the pictures. Several detectives worked for some hours interviewing the informants. POLICE APPEAL Detective Inspector E. T. Mitten, the officer in charge of the inquiry, said yesterday at Lake Moeraki that the police were appealing to all who were in the area between Hokitika and Wanaka between December 29 and January 5 to get in touch with the nearest police station. “These persons could have information which is of vital importance to our inquiry,” he said.

The police are particularly interested in anyone who saw a white Citroen car which was in an accident and ran off the road at Paringa on December 31 about midday.

helping the police in the search. “These men have been working 10 hours a day in dense bush in atrocious conditions," he said. Inspector Mitten was unable to say how much more time would be spent on the inquiries and search in the Lake Moeraki area.

“The accident to the Citroen car has nothing to do with the murder inquiry, but it will help persons to remember whether they were in the area at that time,” Inspector Mitten said. “This is about the time the Vauxhall car in which Miss Beard was travelling was in the area. It is not known definitely whether the Vauxhall stopped at the accident, but any persons who did so may have seen the Vauxhall. “We most urgently ask all those persons to get in touch with the nearest police station immediately:” 1000 CALLERS? Inspector Mitten said that all police stations in New Zealand had been told to expect persons who had been travelling in the area to come forward. If all such persons came forward the police expected they would have to interview more than 1000. The police in Christchurch expect to set up a special office, probably at the Central Police Station, this morning, so that travellers may be interviewed expeditiously. Inspector Mitten said he was unable to estimate the number of persons the police had seen during the inquiry. It had been tremendous. Yesterday detectives at Lake Moeraki had continued their interviews of residents, but there were still quite a few to be seen, Inspector Mitten said. It would be at least four or five days before the police would know how much longer that part of the inquiry would take. SEARCH OF AREA . Other detectives yesterday continued their thorough search of the area where the body was found. This search, which has involved the sifting of soil in the area, has been extended to cover the whole of a nearby picnic area, the bed of the river near where the body was found and the bridge. It is expected that it will be finished during the week-end. Policemen and soldiers are continuing their search along the road to Wanaka, down into Jacksons Bay and north towards Fox Glacier. No sign has been found of Miss Beard’s pack, camera or other possessions. Inspector Mitten praised the 50 soldiers who have been

Christchurch policemen yesterday continued to check Vauxhall cars brought to the Central station. They have checked 2472 cars in the Christchurch area and several hundred have been checked at Ashburton, Rangiora and Lyttelton. The checking has been started at other New Zealand centres.