Swedish couple’s car in mystery

Press, 2 June 1989, Page 5

Swedish couple’s car in mystery

By

NEIL CLARKSON

The police, gearing up for a big week-end search of Coromandel bush for two Swedish tourists, have appealed for the person who stole the couple’s four-wheel-drive Subaru to come forward.

Hundreds of hours of work could be saved if the police could establish exactly when and where the vehicle was taken, said Detective Inspector John Hughes, who heads the inquiry into the disappearance of Sven Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen.

He said the police would be happy to talk personally or anonymously to the person who took the vehicle. Mr Mark Tonks, an Australian-born itinerant worker found in Nelson on Wednesday, went with the police yesterday to Tararua Creek Road, near Thames, to show where he last saw the Subaru parked, on April 8 or 9. The police have started a search of that area. He has also told the police he found an unoccupied tent while trekking through surrounding Coromandel bush about the time he saw the car. Mr Tonks was flown over the area by helicopter and indicated an area where the camp site might have been. A ground search will be made today. The police have appealed to anyone who might have been hunting or tramping in the area to come forward.

The police search of the area beside Tararua Creek Road, where some of the couple’s clothing was found, also continued yesterday. Detective Inspector

“We are still keeping an open mind,” he said. Their packs have not been found.

Inquiries in Auckland are focused on the Subaru, believed to have been broken into in Tararua Creek Road and driven to the city. The police have confirmed a sighting of the car in Pah Road, Mount Roskill, on April 14. Detective Inspector Hughes said this was the first Auckland sighting of the car. The car was seen the next morning in Watling Street, Mount Eden, where the police later recovered it.

Detective Inspector Hughes said a man driving a Ford Sierra might be connected with the Subaru. He was seen in Watling Street about 11.45 p.m. on April 14. “A resident in the street investigated a noise and saw that man acting suspiciously. The following morning the Subaru was found parked near the spot where the Ford Sierra had been seen,” he said.

The police said yesterday Tonks would appear in the District Court in Auckland today on several theft charges unrelated to the disappearance of the Swedish couple.

Hughes said the police believed the couple died through foul play or misadventure, possibly getting lost in the bush.