By Adam Hollingworth
Police investigating the suspected murder of Waikato woman Rae Portman believe they've found her body.
The 33-year-old was last seen leaving an Auckland motel in June, but today police revealed they'd found a body at a rural property in Ardmore.
“At that address we have located a body which we believe is the body of Rae Portman,” says Detective Inspector Mark Gutry.
But police still want information about the last movements of Ms Portman, whose mother says she was pregnant when she disappeared.
Detectives know she checked in to an Auckland motel on the evening of June 20. Phone signals show she was in Markedo Pl, Papakura, later that night, before travelling to Hamilton in a Mazda Astina in tandem with a yellow ute.
Police believe that's where Ms Portman died, but her phone was on in Auckland the next morning. Her Astina turned up in a Hamilton wrecker's yard four days later.
“We believe those vehicles hold information as to what happened to Rae and we're seeking any information about their movements between June 20 and June 25,” says Mr Gutry.
A 32-year-old Hamilton man appeared in Papakura district court yesterday charged with kidnapping, and further charges are likely.
Meanwhile, the search of the farm continues. Three police officers arrived on what detectives say was a routine visit yesterday lunchtime, and were not expecting to find a body. However they found personal belongings of Ms Portman in the garage which led to the discovery of her body 200 metres away.
That body was covered, but has since been removed and undergone an autopsy.
Police are confident neither the farm owners nor their tenants are connected to Ms Portman's death.
“We've spoken to the owners, they've cooperated with us and we do not believe that they knew there was a body here,” says Mr Gutry.
Detectives spoke to Ms Portman's mother last night. They're hoping they'll soon be able to return her daughter.
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