Woman's body snatched from hearse

The body of a 76-year-old New Zealand woman was snatched from the back of a hearse yesterday as her grieving family were about to take her to the cemetery for burial.

Ivy May Ngahooro's body was allegedly taken by her estranged daughter, Joanne, The New Zealand Herald reported.

Mrs Ngahooro died on Friday after a long battle with cancer and had been lying at Seddon Park Funeral Home in Hamilton. In her will, Mrs Ngahooro had said she wanted to be buried in Hamilton with some Anglican involvement.



However, her daughter is believed to have taken her mother's body to be buried in a marae in Taumarunui. Mrs Ngahooro was Pakeha but married a Maori man called Fred, whom she left in the 1970s.

Mrs Ngahooro's niece Trish Scoble said a Maori liaison officer at a police roadblock tried to negotiate with the two groups for an hour. However, the police could not do anything, and eventually Joanne took her mother's body, leaving the rest of the family distraught.

However, following a day of negotiation, the family has reached a compromise and there will be a ceremony at Hikairo Marae tomorrow followed by a service at the Taumaranui cemetery where she will be buried beside other members of her family. (With news video).