Detectives Seek Whereabouts Of Man Missing Since Day Of Tragedy.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18187, 21 June 1927, Page 1

Detectives Seek Whereabouts Of Man Missing Since Day Of Tragedy.

WAS FRIEND OF MURDERED GIRL; IS IN HIDING AT BROQKLANDS, IT IS BELIEVED; DETECTIVES MAKE SEARCH. Is the murderer of Gwen Scarff hiding in the lupins near Brooklands? Detectives engaged on the case have now turned their attention again to the scrub, and are making a thorough search. They are seeking the whereabouts of a man whose description coincides with that of the man seen running from the spot where the body lay when it was discovered on Wednesday last. This man is known to have been a friend of the murdered girl. He has disappeared since the tragedy. Someone, during the week-end, broke into the hut of Mr Reginald Thompson at Brooklands, a few miles from the scene of the tragedy, and stole a razor. No effort is being spared by the police to learn the whereabouts of the man, who is said to have known the girl for some time, and who, it has been learned, mysteriously disappeared on the day on which the body of Gwen Scarff was found. This morning a car-load of detectives left for Brooklands. Certain information in the hands of the police throws grave suspicion on the man. for whom a search is now being made. He had been seen with the murdered girl frequently before the tragedy. It is believed that the man is not far from the scene of the tragedy. It is thought that he has been lying low. Smashing one of the windows, the man who broke into Mr Thompson’s hut ransacked the place, but although there were a number, of things he might have taken, he stole only a razor. Bed-clothes and articles of furniture were strewn with abandon about the floor, and the scene when Mr Thompson visited the hut after the burglary was one of disorder. There was no food in the house.