Christchurch body discovery: Neighbour says council’s fence removal gave woman access to site

Tuesday, 23 June 2026

The removal of a fence from an overgrown vacant section by the Christchurch City Council may have played a role in a woman accessing the site before her body was discovered there, according to a neighbour.

The body, believed to be that of Adele, a 69-year-old woman missing for a week,was found in an overgrown and empty Christchurch property on Sunday night.

The body was discovered on Gayhurst Rd in Dallington about at 9pm.

The property was “overgrown and vacant” with no house on it, police said.

While formal identification was yet to be completed, the body was believed to be that of Adele, Detective Sergeant Luke Vaughan said.

“This is not the outcome we were hoping for, however we are pleased her family have received some closure.

“We would like to thank everyone within the community for all their assistance, and the dedication of the search crews who have worked so hard over the past week.”

The death would be referred to the coroner, he said.

Neighbour Lance Bell said he was shocked to learn about the discovery of her body on his street.

“It was a bit of a shock when they basically said [she] was in a property on Gayhurst Rd.

“It’s a little bit scary because we live on Gayhurst Rd with our family.”

Bell said the property where the body was found, which is empty apart from a shed near the back, has been the subject of numerous complaints to Christchurch City Council.

“That property has been vacant since the earthquakes and there have been issues raised to The Press in the past about it being untidy and unkept.

“There’s been lot of people dumping rubbish there for years so it’s always been an eyesore.”

Bell said the council had removed a section of the fence after complaints about overhanging vines on the footpath.

“[It] technically invited people to be able to walk into the property and dump rubbish into the property, and nothing’s ever been rectified.”

Council head of transport Stephen Wright confirmed a complaint was made in 2025 about overgrown vegetation on the footpath.

“Parts of the fence were removed as there were sections that were already damaged and came down alongside the overgrown vegetation.”

Following the complaint road landscapes contractors cut back the ivy and overgrown vegetation from the footpath “for the safer access for pedestrians”, Wright said.

The council would “work with the property owner on options for fence replacement”, Wright said.

The body was found a few hours after Vaughan had renewed calls to the public to help search their properties for Adele.

She was last seen in person on Monday, leaving Eastgate Shopping Centre in Linwood at about 1pm, a police spokesperson said.

Adele, who lived in Shirley in her own home, was reported missing on Thursday.

She was among several people to have gone missing in Christchurch in recent times.

Police found 81-year-old Christchurch woman Valerie Hargrave cold, but alive, in grass near Tunnel Rd in Woolston earlier this month after she had been missing for five days.

She was about a kilometre from her home.

In June last year, Elisabeth Nicolls, a 79-year-old Christchurch woman with dementia, disappeared from the Margaret Stoddart Retirement Village.

She was found dead 19 days later in an abandoned home, less than 3km away from the retirement village, and less than 300m away from the home she lived in before moving to the village.

Christchurch City Council was approached for comment.