UPDATE: NZ police identify body found in Evans Bay

Attributable to Detective Senior Sergeant Barry Bysouth:

Wellington Police can now confirm the identity of the man whose body was found in the water at Evans Bay on Tuesday.

He was 45-year-old Joseph Nansen, of Wellington.

Police believe the last known sighting of Mr Nansen is the image of a man on a CCTV camera in the area of the Evans Bay yacht club around 11pm on Saturday 2 May.

The footage shows the figure of a man matching Mr Nansen’s description, and that he was alone at the time.

The man was seen close to the location of where Mr Nansen’s body was located.

The man was carrying a dark or black backpack, and Police have yet to recover this.

Recovery of this backpack is significant to the investigation, and Police would ask anyone who may have picked it up, or if anyone sees a dark backpack discarded in the area, to please contact Police.

We are also looking for a number of items of clothing – a light-coloured hoodie, dark leather (or similar) jacket, dark trousers, and dark shoes with white or light-coloured soles.

/NZ Police Public Release. View in full here.