A farmer in the Waikato region made a startling discovery on Friday morning after she and a group of weed controllers came across a human skeleton hidden in thick privet bushes near State Highway 3.
According to a report by Lucy Xia of Stuff, police have launched an investigation after the remains were discovered in an area between the towns of Ōtorohanga and Te Awamutu along the busy highway.
Farmer Clare Douglas said she was working with a group of about six people cutting down privet trees near the road when the discovery was made. At first, she did not believe the others when they called out to say they had found a body.
“The group was all huddled together, and I went over and said 'get back to work', and saw the body lying there...took me a couple of minutes to realise what it was and what we should do, and so yeah, I called the police,” she said, as quoted by Stuff.
Douglas said the experience was deeply unsettling. “It didn't feel real to me, and even now it feels surreal, I've been in shock all day,” she added.
According to Douglas, the skeleton was still clothed and was wearing work boots when it was found.
“At least there'll be some closure hopefully for a family, finding their loved one, hopefully,” she said, Stuff has quoted.
Douglas explained that her husband’s family has lived in the area for four generations. She said her in-laws recalled that the section of privet trees had only been trimmed once by the transport agency in the past three decades, according to Stuff.
The trees have since grown to about 30 metres tall, which prompted Douglas to begin weed control work in the area.
Police say they are still in the early stages of their investigation and have not yet released further details about the remains.