A man described how he checked an area a few metres from a Spencer Park walking track when the dogs he was walking showed an interest two days in a row - and found the body of Emma Agnew lying beneath foliage.
Stuart Monk said the area was not visible at all from the track. He had to fight through some bush and then crawl under a fallen tree, Christchurch Court News website reported.
He then saw a mound of foliage that did not look right. "The rest of the forest floor was pretty flat, but this looked like a man-made construction."
The body was completely covered, but he moved some foliage with his foot and saw the ear and head of a female body.
"I knew there was a young lady missing and I thought it was probably her," he told Justice Lester Chisholm and a High Court jury on the third day of the trial of Liam James Reid.
His dogs had shown an interest in the area that day, and the day before. Miss Agnew's body was discovered on November 26, which was 11 days after her disappearance.
He estimated the body was 10m to 15m from the Blue Track, a walking track that goes around the Bottle Lake Forest which stretches from Burwood to Spencer Park.
He then walked out of the forest, a distance of only about 150m to the road, where he found a park ranger. The park ranger walked in, looked at the find from a distance and then went to call the police.
Detective Simon Lamond said he was appointed officer in charge of the scene which was 195m along the track, and 20m to the east of the track.
When the foliage was removed, the body of Emma Agnew was found to be lying on her back with her arms at her sides and her feet together. Her head was tilted to the left.
Nearby he found a black ankle sock, and a broken branch, and a hair caught on a branch, as well as signs that someone had walked through the marram grass. He believed this showed the route she had taken to where her body was found.
