Friday's headlines: Wellington surgeon ordered to pay more than $100,000 in fines and costs after death of a patient; ACT is said to be on its knees; locomotive burst into flames on a viaduct in Taieri Gorge.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald reports the the body of Carmen Thomas is now believed to have been dumped in bush southeast of Auckland.
It is increasingly thought that her body was disposed of somewhere in the Hunua Ranges, between Auckland and Waikato.
The only other story on the front page says Wellington surgeon Richard Stubbs - who has been the subject of several complaints about failing to properly inform patients - has been ordered to pay more than $100,000 in fines and costs after the death of a patient.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post reports the grandmother from whose house Gisborne preschooler Lucas Ward disappeared, fears he will not be found alive - but the four-year-old's parents still hold out hope.
In other news: ACT is said to be on its knees, with tight finances and sagging membership compounding its loss of face over the ousting of Heather Roy as deputy leader.
Fifty classical musicians will get the chance to rock with Sting at the Mission concert in Napier in February.
The Press
The Press says Government funding for a counselling service for people who have lost family members to suicide, has been cut.
With the Almatal Atlantis now safely in Lyttleton with the survivors on board, Sajo Industries, which owns the Sajo Oyango Corporation, has sent another vessel to keep searching for the three missing crew in the southern ocean.
It is expected to arrive in the area where the Oyang 70 sank, on Friday.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times reports that the chairman of the New Zealand board of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons says regional political pressure should not be allowed to limit the sustainable development of acute surgical services in regions like Otago and Southland.
Disaster was averted by quick-thinking Taieri Gorge Railway staff after a locomotive erupted in flames on a viaduct in the gorge on Thursday afternoon.
