"Update - body found in Fairlie, South Canterbury"
Please attribute to Inspector David Gaskin, Area Commander for Mid-South Canterbury:
Police are now in the position to the release the name of the man who was found deceased in the Opihi Riverbed, near
Fairlie, on Tuesday, 1 August.
He was 45-year-old Michael Andrew Phillips, a local Fairlie man.
Police is still carrying out the examination of the scene in the Opihi Riverbed where the body of Mr Phillips was
discovered on Tuesday evening.
Mr Phillips was located dead next to his vehicle on a track in the river bed at approximately 10:30pm by a local police
officer.
Enquiries into the circumstance of Mr Phillips' death have been ongoing since he was found and will continue over the
weekend.
Police's focus is on gathering and piecing together all available information to be able to build an accurate picture of
the circumstances that led to the death.
ENDS