Police looking for missing Wanganui woman Marice McGregor have found a body down a ravine in dense bush.
The scene was secured overnight and a full examination of the scene was being carried out today.
Police Central Districts communications manager Kim Perks said it was too early to say whether the body was that of Ms McGregor, but it was likely that the discovery was linked to her disappearance.
Ms McGregor's family had been told of the find and had asked for privacy.
"Police need time to carry out some detailed work at the scene before recovering the body and going through the identification process,'' Ms Perks said.
The body was in a ravine and the terrain around it was particularly difficult with dense bush and steep inclines, so recovery and the scene examination may take anything between one and three days to complete.
Earlier today it was reported Ms McGregor's family had a "gut feeling'' that a man she was in an internet relationship with could be involved in her disappearance.
Police said they had identified a number of "persons of interest'' relating to the 45-year-old's disappearance but did not have a prime suspect.
Sarah McLachlan, partner of Ms McGregor's brother Garth, said yesterday the family did not know a lot about Ms McGregor's internet relationship, but believed the man was the foremost suspect.
"I just had a feeling something was wrong. It was a gut feeling,'' she told the Dominion Post.
Garth McGregor said the family was resigned to searching for his sister's body.
"We were realistic that she might be dead almost from the word go,'' he said.
Ms Perks said Ms McGregor's emails and internet activity had been examined.
Police yesterday said the discovery of a lanyard cord belonging to Ms McGregor indicated she had got into a vehicle.
The lanyard, which had been used by Ms McGregor to carry her cellphone, still had her keys and a small soft toy bear attached.
It was found by a university lecturer and students collecting stream insect samples by a culvert south of Otoko Pa, about 26km north of LismoreForest where Ms McGregor was last seen and her abandoned car found.
The group handed the lanyard to Ohakune police, who passed it on to the Wanganui investigation team.
Police were still looking for her cellphone, which was last activated in Feilding the day after she vanished.
Ms McGregor was last seen as she drove her red Suzuki Escudo on State Highway 4, the Parapara Highway, about 40km north of Wanganui, on April 19.
Police believe Ms McGregor got into a vehicle at some point on April 19 and were seeking sightings of a green and silver Mitsubishi people-mover on April 19 and 20.
