Rapist escaped by 4hr

Press, 18 December 1985, Page 36

Rapist escaped by 4hr

PA Auckland Auckland detectives hunting the man who raped a girl, aged 10, think they may have missed their quarry by as little as four hours when a stolen car was ditched near Waihi.

Detective Sergeant Peter Evans, of the Henderson C. 1.8., said the bronze 1984 Mitsubishi Sigma seen by a passer-by in Athenree Gorge last Thursday had been

there only about four hours before the police were called in.

“Our first examination reveals that this is possibly connected with the offence,” he said.

But he would not say what clues inside the car led police to believe it was the one used by a man who adbucted the girl near her West Auckland home. The Mitsubishi was stolen

from a car-park beneath the Regent of Auckland Hotel on November 28, 10 days before the victim was hauled into a parked car, bound, gagged and, after the rape, dumped in Epsom. Detective Sergeant Evans said yesterday that the police had no firm suspect. They are waiting for the results of fingerprint and other forensic tests on the stolen car.