Around the time of the murders, a distinctive car was seen and reported to the Police by several people. It was a small white sedan, possibly an older ( 1970's -1980's ) Ford Escort or Toyota Corolla.

The distinctive aspects of the car were that it was a small white car with a brown driver's door, cruising slowly and suspiciously as though the occupants ( generally 3 people ) were looking for something or a particular house.

Excerpts from the Police enquiry documents follow:
( Note that the murders occurred on the night of 29th August 2000 )

From enquiry document 60080

A witness stated that on Monday 28 August between 1.00 pm and 3.00 pm, she noticed a white car.

The car drove past 30 Karamea Crescent and seemed to slow. She noticed two males in the front and a female in the back who seemed to take a real hard look at the place.

She did not know what sort of car it was, only that it was white.

She could only tell the occupants were male and female, nothing else.

From enquiry document 60087

At about 3.15 pm on 29th August 2000,I noticed a suspicious looking vehicle cruising along Kelvin Grove Road. It was going very slowly and nearing McLeavey Drive. We were travelling in the same direction.

The car is white and possibly a Toyota Corolla, square shaped and an older model. The driver’s door was brown.

There were three people in the car but I could only see the driver. I would describe him as possibly 20 and wearing a hat or beanie, he was Maori. I’m not sure what race the other two were. They would have been about the same age and possibly wearing hats or beanies.

From enquiry document 60088

At about 7.00 pm on Wednesday the 30th of August I drove along James Line.  As I pulled up to the intersection a vehicle was turning right into James Line from Kelvin Grove Road.

The car was going very slowly which is what drew my attention to it.

It was an older vehicle possibly a Ford Escort. It had a brown door on the driver’s side. There were three people in the car. It’s possibly an 85, four door.

The driver was possibly Maori and had a beanie or balaclava on. I didn’t see the others very well.

 We would like to hear from anybody who has seen this car or has any information about it, so that we can eliminate it from our research into the case.

Ways to contact us:

Write to FACTUAL Committee at P.O. Box 5149, Palmerston North

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