The woman was found in the water off Māhina Bay, between the suburbs of Point Howard and Eastbourne, on Sunday 21 April. Photo: RNZ / Pretoria Gordon
Residents of Wellington's eastern bay suburbs say they are "shocked" that a woman's body was found in the harbour over the weekend.
Police were called about 8am on Sunday after the woman was found in the water off Māhina Bay, between the suburbs of Point Howard and Eastbourne.
On Monday afternoon, police said they still did not know who she was or how she came to be in the water.
In a statement, Detective Inspector Haley Ryan said the woman was believed to be aged between 60 and 70, and that she had been walking in the York Bay area not long before she was found dead.
'It's quite shocking'
A resident who lived near Marine Drive, which stretches across the harbourside suburbs from Point Howard to Eastbourne - said the area was peaceful where "everyone knew everyone".
"It's really unfortunate, you know, finding about the news," he said.
"It's pretty sad, yeah, it's quite shocking."
Māhina Bay. Photo: RNZ / Pretoria Gordon
Another man living in York Bay, less than one kilometre away from Māhina Bay, said he was horrified by what had happened.
"I'm from Los Angeles, so I'm used to bad areas, but this has always been a very safe place - that's why we moved here," he said.
The Tupua Horo Nuku project - a 4.4km walking and cycling path on top of a new seawall - has been under construction on Marine Drive near York Bay since January.
An RNZ reporter observed that that the walking path at Māhina Bay was very narrow and crumbly with a steep slope down onto the beach.
Ryan said police wanted to hear from anyone who was in the York Bay area between 6am and 8am on Sunday - and who saw anything that could assist with the investigation.
Police also wanted to hear from anyone who had friends or family who were known to walk in the Eastbourne/York Bay area and was unaccounted for.
"The woman was wearing black-coloured active wear including a distinctive black long-sleeved hooded sweatshirt that had an image of a large white rose on the front," Ryan said.
"The woman is believed to be NZ European aged between 60-70-years-old, however, we're keeping an open mind and are interested in hearing from anyone whose adult female friend or relative is recently unaccounted for in the Wellington area."
Anyone with information could call police on 105 or make a report online, referencing file number 240421/0290.
