UPDATED 6pm: A MAN was arrested on Thursday afternoon at nearby Barragoot after police found the body of a woman in a car in Bermagui on Wednesday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
UPDATED 2pm: POLICE investigating the death of a woman whose body was found in a car on Wednesday night in Bermagui believe a man who fled the scene has left the area.
UPDATED 1pm: Police have reopened the Tathra Bermagui Road that had been closed at the Cuttagee Bridge overnight. A helicopter was searching the area earlier in the morning.
The entrance to the headland just north of the bridge remained blocked off by police vehicles. Police plan to hold a press conference in Batemans Bay at 1pm.
More details follow...
Police who stopped a car on the Far South Coast of NSW on Wednesday night found the body of a woman in the vehicle's boot, as the male driver fled from officers into nearby bushland.
A perimeter has now been set up around the town of Bermagui as officers hunt for the driver, who ran away when officers stopped the blue Hyundai Getz on the Tathra Bermagui Road at Cuttagee Point about 8.30pm.
"During a subsequent search of the vehicle, officers located a woman's body in the boot," police said.
Police are understood to be investigating whether the body is that of missing Canberra woman Daniella D'Addario, 35, who was reported missing this week along with Canberra man Josaia (Joey) Vosikata, 27.
Concerned family members of Ms D'Addario, who was a teacher at Canberra High School in 2009, reported her missing on Monday when they were unable to get in touch with her over the weekend.
Following the discovery of the body in the car on Wednesday night, a NSW Police spokesman said the woman had not been formally identified.
"Investigations into this incident, and possible links to a report of a missing woman from the ACT, are ongoing," he said.
Police said initial investigations into Wednesday night's grim discovery suggested the male driver and the dead woman knew each other.
ACT police this week said Mr Vosikata and Ms D'Addario could have been heading to the Bermagui area in Ms D'Addario's silver or light blue Hyundai Getz, with ACT registration plates.
At 8.30pm on Wednesday, officers from the Far South Coast Local Area Command stopped a car in Bermagui and the driver fled into bushland.
The coastal town of Bermagui, about 100 kilometres south of Batemans Bay, is surrounded by rugged bushland, including the Murrah State Forest, the Bermagui State Forest, the Biamanga National Park and the Mumbulla State Forest.
The NSW Police spokesman could not say where in the car the woman's body was found, nor whether it had been concealed.
He said officers set up a crime scene at the car, as well as a perimeter around the area as they continued to hunt for the driver.
The driver is described as being of Pacific Islander or Maori appearance, aged in his late 20s, with an athletic build. He was last seen wearing dark clothing.
Police have asked members of the public who see the man or know where he is not to approach him, but to contact triple zero immediately.
After being briefed late on Wednesday night, the helicopter crew set out shortly after first light.
"We have conducted an extensive search of Cuttagee Point headland," he said.
"The beach to the north, Barrabool Beach, was also searched, as well as Mills Beach to the south. The crew searched rocky ledges to the north and south and (made) an extensive search of the ocean."
Mr Leahy said after 90 minutes, the crew had not found anything and returned to the base. The aircraft is on standby.
On Wednesday afternoon, acting Sergeant Jason Taylor from ACT Policing, appealed for anyone with information about Mr Vosikata and Ms D'Addario's location to contact police as their disappearance was out of character.
"We're concerned for their welfare and safety as the circumstances under which they went missing are very uncharacteristic of them both," he said at the time.
"There is no indication of any foul play or any malfeasance that has occurred."
He said it was very common for both to be in regular contact with their families, who hadn't heard from either since Sunday.
The pair were believed to have travelled to the Casuarina Sands area on Sunday before heading to the south coast.
ACT Policing initially described the pair as a couple, but Detective acting Sergeant Taylor later wouldn't comment on the nature of their relationship except to say they knew each other.
- With Batemans Bay Post
The story Driver flees as police find woman's body in car at Bermagui first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.
