{"id":624291,"date":"2026-10-08T11:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/624291\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:04:08","slug":"body-found-in-christchurch-believed-to-be-missing-man-braydon-hepworth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/624291\/","title":{"rendered":"Body found in Christchurch believed to be missing man Braydon Hepworth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  [&amp;_p]:tit-sub-xl tit-sub-xl md:[&amp;_p]:d-tit-sub-xl md:d-tit-sub-xl mb-[1.3rem]\">Police believe a body found during a search warrant at a central Christchurch property this morning is missing 21-year-old Braydon Hepworth, who was last seen more than a month ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Officers found the body at a house on Hereford St. Formal identification was ongoing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Detective Inspector Scott Anderson said the death was being unexplained, with a post-mortem examination to be carried out tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Braydon was last seen at the Z Energy service station in Linwood, in Christchurch&#8217;s east, on September 3. A search warrant had been carried out at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2026\/10\/08\/missing-christchurch-man-braydon-hepworth-no-longer-alive-police-say\/Police believe a body found during a search warrant at a central Christchurch property this morning is missing 21-year-old Braydon Hepworth, who was last seen more than a month ago. Officers found the body at a house on Hereford St. Formal identification was ongoing. Detective Inspector Scott Anderson said the death was being unexplained, with a post-mortem examination to be carried out tomorrow. Braydon had last seen at the Z Energy service station in Linwood, in Christchurch\" s=\"\" east=\"\" on=\"\" september=\"\" anderson=\"\" said=\"\" police=\"\" were=\"\" providing=\"\" his=\"\" wh with=\"\" support=\"\" at=\"\" this=\"\" difficult=\"\" time=\"\" is=\"\" a devastating=\"\" outcome=\"\" for=\"\" family=\"\" and=\"\" our=\"\" hearts=\"\" go=\"\" out=\"\" to=\"\" them.=\"\" while=\"\" not=\"\" the=\"\" we=\"\" hoped=\"\" there=\"\" small=\"\" comfort=\"\" in=\"\" being=\"\" able=\"\" bring=\"\" him=\"\" home.=\"\" today=\"\" warrant=\"\" was=\"\" one=\"\" of=\"\" several=\"\" had=\"\" executed=\"\" as=\"\" part=\"\" search=\"\" which=\"\" they=\"\" described=\"\" operation=\"\" involving=\"\" number=\"\" dedicated=\"\" staff.=\"\" investigators=\"\" are=\"\" now=\"\" working=\"\" confirm=\"\" braydon=\"\" movements=\"\" speaking=\"\" people=\"\" who=\"\" assisting=\"\" their=\"\" enquiries.=\"\" early=\"\" investigation=\"\" it=\"\" will=\"\" take=\"\" build=\"\" clear=\"\" picture=\"\" what=\"\" has=\"\" occurred=\"\" said.=\"\" scene=\"\" guard=\"\" remains=\"\" hereford=\"\" street=\"\" property=\"\" expect=\"\" be=\"\" address=\"\" days.=\"\" asking=\"\" anyone=\"\" information=\"\" about=\"\" or=\"\" anything=\"\" else=\"\" that=\"\" could=\"\" help=\"\" contact=\"\" them=\"\" online=\"\" using=\"\" report=\"\" by=\"\" calling=\"\" quote=\"\" reference=\"\" further=\"\" details=\"\" would=\"\" released=\"\" when=\"\" available=\"\" added.=\"\" anders hi thi i heart wa operati investigator brayd movement investigati ha remain addres any informati ab th detail avail rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">his last known address in Linwood last Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Anderson said police were providing his wh\u0101nau with support at this &#8220;extremely difficult time&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;This is a devastating outcome for his family, and our hearts go out to them. While this is not the outcome we hoped for, there is a small comfort in being able to bring him home.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Anderson said today&#8217;s warrant was one of several police had executed as part of the search, which they described as a &#8220;significant operation&#8221; involving a number of dedicated staff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Investigators are now working to confirm Braydon&#8217;s movements and are speaking with a number of people who are assisting their enquiries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;It is early in the investigation, and it will take time to build a clear picture of what has occurred,&#8221; Anderson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">A scene guard remains at the Hereford Street property, and police expect to be at the address for several days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Police are asking anyone with information about Braydon&#8217;s movements, or anything else that could help the investigation, to contact them online at 105.police.govt.nz using &#8220;update report&#8221;, or by calling 105. Quote the reference number 260918\/8420.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Further details would be released when available, police added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-greyDarkFaded\">The morning&#8217;s headlines in 90 seconds, including murder charges after the death of doctor to the royal family, and how an Indian cop clung onto a speeding car for 40km. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police believe a body found during a search warrant at a central Christchurch property this morning is missing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[158,67,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-624291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-christchurch-canterbury","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}