Grace Millane’s body dumped by road where Brit girl, 13, was killed with her own stockings in chilling unsolved murder
The Waitakere Ranges, comprising 27,000 hectares of public and private land, are located just west of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city
THE thick forest in New Zealand where Brit backpacker Grace Millane's body was found has a dark reputation as a body dumping ground.
The Waitakere Ranges, comprising 27,000 hectares of public and private land, are located just west of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.
It was here - just 30ft from the road - where 22-year-old Grace's body was discovered at the weekend hidden in dense forest.
She was found near Scenic Drive, a winding road that cuts through the eastern fringe of the forest. To the west and south, the other forest edges line stunning cliffs and popular surfing beaches.
But it was also here that the body of British 13-year-old Tracey Ann Patient was found after being strangled and dumped in 1976.
Tracey had just moved to New Zealand with her parents and was walking home from a friend's when she vanished in January of that year.
She was discovered the following day in some bush by the Scenic Drive roadside.
A coroner later concluded she had been strangled with her own stockings, wound tight at the back with a twig.
Her family later returned with her ashes to New Zealand, and to this day the unsolved killing remains one of New Zealand's most infamous cold cases.
More recently, the body of murder victim Karen Stanley-Hunt was found in the bushes in 1998.
Karen, 25, was found in the bushes after being hit six times over the head with a crowbar by Rangitahi Dean Wilson Phillips.
The 38-year-old - a friend of Karen's - claimed he did not kill her but found her unconscious in his apartment.
He lawyers told a jury he wrapped her body in a carpet, threw her down a bank in the Ranges, then abandoned her car after panicking at finding her dead.
But this was dismissed by the judge as "possibly the silliest story you have ever heard" who noted there was also a blood spatter on his jacket.
MOST READ IN NEWS
He was later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
Meanwhile, a 26-year-old man, who cannot legally be named, has appeared in court charged with Grace's murder. He has not yet entered a plea.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
