A 32-year-old has appeared in the Whakatane District Court charged with murder.
He was granted interim name suppression and remanded in custody.
He's accused of murdering a two-year-old girl.
Her body was pulled from the Rangitaiki River, near Whakatane, late last night.
Witnesses described seeing a man enter the water with the toddler.
ADVERTISEMENT
The accused sighed heavily in the dock and spent most of his brief appearance with his eyes closed.
He was known to the child and will reappear at the High Court in Tauranga on Wednesday.
SHARE ME