Police Name Murdered German Hitchhiker

New Zealand police on Friday named a murdered German hitchhiker whose body was found in a secluded forest park with stab wounds, as they stepped up their search for her killer. Birgit Brauer, 28, of Dresden, had been on a working holiday in New Zealand. She had been seen hitchhiking before her body was found on Tuesday by a jogger at Lucy's Gully in Egmont National Park near the city of New Plymouth on the west coast of the North Island. Brauer had been in New Zealand since February and was hitchhiking from the city of Wanganui, south of New Plymouth, on the day of her murder. Police said she was last seen at the town of Waitotara, north of Wanganui onTuesday. Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Coward of New Plymouth police said they were looking for the driver of a dark grey or black four wheel drive vehicle Brauer was seen getting into in Waitotara. "This was a vicious and callous attack. It is shocking to all investigating the case, it is a shock to the public and to all of New Zealand." Many New Zealanders have expressed horror at the attack and its impact on the image of New Zealand as a safe and friendly place to travel.