Police have confirmed remains were found in a car recovered from the bottom of Nelson Harbour last night.
Nelson Bays area commander Inspector Mat Arnold-Kelly said Tasman police were examining the car removed from Wakefield Quay and were "confident" the vehicle belonged to missing man Leo Lipp-Neighbours.
Police were working to establish the contents of the car, but confirmed they found what they believe to be skeletal remains in the vehicle, Insp Arnold-Kelly said.
"Identification of these remains will take some time," he said.
Investigators were also examining how the car ended up in Nelson Harbour, Insp Arnold-Kelly said.
The 19-year-old was last seen seven years ago on January 24, 2010, driving away from his home in a valley suburb near the Nelson coast in a distinctive orange station wagon.
On Monday afternoon commercial divers stumbled on a car submerged in Wakefield Quay in the harbour. The vehicle was recovered from the water last night as Mr Lipp-Neighbours' family watched on, Fairfax reported.
"It was a bit of a tricky recovery last night," Insp Mat Arnold-Kelly said.
"Because of the length of time that the vehicle has been under water, it's obviously difficult to confirm the identity of it. However, from some of the contents we've found, we're reasonably confident that it is Leo's vehicle."
Insp Arnold-Kelly said he could not say what the contents were that were found in the vehicle, and said it would take some time to go through it as there was "a lot of silt and debris and other material in the vehicle".
Police have been in constant communication with Mr Lipp-Neighbours' family.
"They've obviously got some sense of closure," he said.
Until 2014 police were convinced Lipp-Neighbours had been the victim of a serious crime.
