BODY IN RIVER Police Make No Progress

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31005, 10 March 1966, Page 1

BODY IN RIVER Police Make No Progress

Detectives investigating the death at Greymouth of a 70-year-old retired fisherman, whose naked body was found in the Grey river on Sunday morning, yesterday made no further progress in ascertaining how he suffered severe internal injuries.

“We do not know yet,” replied DetectiveInspector Al. T. Churches when asked last evening if the injuries had been inflicted deliberately or suffered accidentally.

No trace has been found of the clothes the dead man. John Herman Cook, was wearing when last seen alive in a hotel at midnight on Saturday. No-one has come forward to tell the police that Mr Cook was seen between that time and when his married son. Mr Gordon Cook, found his body in the wave trap on the Cobden side of the river and near the bar, at on Sunday. No trace has been found of the sum of money, about £2O. that Mr Cook had in his possession when he was at the hotel. ACTION OF WAVES The police believe it possible that Mr Cook’s clothing was removed while he was in the river by the turbulence of the water near the bar. The water was fairly turbulent, particularly on Saturday morning, during the week-end. Mr Cook was wearing slipon shoes that could easily have come off in the water. In September, 1962, a ship’s engineer, Albert Charles Lockyer, disappeared from Greymouth on a Saturday. A body was seen in the wave trap, from which Mr Cook’s body was recovered, on the following Monday. The police dragged the

area and kept a close watch on the river and bar for three weeks. A' shoe was recovered, but the body was never sighted again. However, they are still puzzled about the cause of the injuries Mr Cook suffered. CAUSE OF INJURIES From the hotel where Mr! Cook was last seen alive to where the fishing trawler he was working on was berthed, was only 50 yards. Detective-Inspector M. T. Churches, questioned last evening, said he thought it improbable that a boat the size of the fishing trawler, the Moana, could have caused the injuries suffered by Mr Cook if he had fallen between the trawler and the wharf. Mr Churches said, to further questions, that it appeared probable that Mr Cook’s injuries were suffered while he was on land. “The inquiry is still wide open. We have not found the clothes, nor any money. We have not traced Mr Cook’s movements since he left the hotel. We are still anxious for any member of the public who can help us in the search for the clothes or in fixing his movements after he was last seen, to get in touch with the Greymouth Police Station,” he said.