A man fishing in Auckland's Gulf Harbour made a gruesome discovery on Tuesday, pulling a body wrapped in plastic bags out of the water.
Paul Middleton told Stuff at first he thought the "big lump" was a cow.
"To start with I thought someone had thrown away a big chunk of meat, but then I saw clothes on it and then a hand," he said.
Middleton described pulling the body, thought to be wrapped in at least three black rubbish bags, up onto some rocks - trying not to damage the crime scene in the process.
"It was bloody heavy, I couldn't pull it all the way up so wedged it there and called the cops."
Police told Newshub they were called to a reserve in Gulf Harbour near Laurie Southwick Parade about 3:15pm.
"At this stage, police are treating the death as unexplained," a spokesperson said.
"There is no immediate risk to the public in relation to this death."
An area has been cordoned off while police investigate.
