30 Sep 2011

PNG police find body of skipper of missing scientists' boat

2:37 pm on 30 September 2011

Papua New Guinea police say the body of a male person found on an isolated Purdy group of Islands in the Manus Province has been identified as the skipper of the boat which transported a group of missing scientists.

The wife of the deceased recognised the picture of the shorts worn by the skipper when the Police Media Unit ran pictures of the clothes found on the body on the EM TV Crime Stoppers programme.

The Manus Provincial Police Commander Alex N'drahsal says a relative flew to Manus and further confirmed the identify of the body.

The five scientists from the PNG Institute of Medical Research and three crew disappeared while travelling to an island off West New Britain on August the 1st.

Last week, police said they believed the boat had been seized by pirates, seeking to get a ransom.