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The Lucie Blackman Trust, a charity which specializes in assisting the families of missing Britons abroad and has been in contact with the Millane family, also said it was “incredibly saddened” to hear the case was now being treated as a homicide.

As posted on our Facebook last night (Apologies we had issues updating out Twitter account until now).

Our thoughts are with Grace's family at this awful time and we continue to support them where needed. pic.twitter.com/EkCJcw7Azv

— Lucie Blackman Trust (@MissingAbroad) December 8, 2018

Matt Searle, the CEO of the Lucie Blackman Trust, told ABC News that there will be no further statement or interviews from the family.

“I would like to say though we have been utterly astounded by the level of support offered to Grace’s family from the people of New Zealand,” he said. “We have been inundated with amazing offers, from financial help to people offering to cook a meal for the family or lend them a spare room or car. We have also received a great many messages of condolence and sympathy for Grace’s family and we will of course compile all of these and pass to the family.”

The crime has stunned New Zealand citizens in part because of the country’s low murder rate. There were 48 homicides nationwide in 2017, a number lower than the 58 recorded in 2016, according to the latest police figures.

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