Police have identified the man found dead in the back seat of a vehicle at a Katikati reserve yesterday as Tauranga man David Newcombe.

The 50-year-old's body was found inside a silver Peugeot parked in a bay off Beach Road, near its intersection with Main Road, shortly before 9am.

Police cordoned off the area in Katikati where David Newcombe was found dead.

The area was cordoned off after a member of the public reported the death to police.

Detective Sergeant Rob Lemoto told SunLive this afternoon that a post-mortem has just been completed and next of kin have been notified.

'The post-mortem shows he died of medical reasons. We believe he was in the area visiting family, as he has family in Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty.”

Rob says officers have had a number of calls regarding the man and the vehicle, and he would like to thank the public for their help.

'It's always helpful to have as much information as we can and it's been great assistance.

'We have now closed our investigation.”