23 Feb 2010

Identity of dead cyclist still unknown

5:38 am on 23 February 2010

Hamilton police are trying to establish the identity of a woman found dead in a creek on Sunday near a bicycle that was also submerged.

The woman's body was discovered by members of the public in knee-deep water in the Waitawhiriwhiri Stream at about 11.30am.

Police say the woman had been riding her bicycle down a steep path leading to the stream. Skid marks suggest she failed to negotiate a corner and struck a tree before falling into the stream. Police are not treating her death as suspicious.

Police say the woman is Maori or Polynesian, aged in her 30s, with distinctive frizzy hair and wearing a black T-shirt, a light green tiki necklace and blue knee-length shorts.