Jesse Kempson latest: Woman claims she was due to meet Grace Millane murder suspect for a date on night British backpacker vanished

A woman has come forward claiming she had been due to meet the man accused of killing British backpacker Grace Millane for a date on the day she went missing.

The woman, who has not been named, said she was meant to be meeting Jesse Kempson, 26, on December 1 after six months of messaging each other on a dating app.

They were due to meet in West Auckland that day but the 30-year-old was busy, forcing her to postpone the date until December 11.

The woman told the Sydney Morning Herald he had seemed a “decent guy”.

She said: “I'm quite upset. At the time it was just legitimately all normal.

“The only weird thing I thought about him was that he asked me for feet photos and of me with my high heels on."

Police investigating the killing of Ms Millane are looking for a shovel believed to be connected to the probe.

Ms Millane, 22, went missing from a hostel in Auckland on December 1 – the day before her birthday – and a body was found in the Waitakere Ranges on Sunday. She was last seen with a “male companion”.

Murder suspect Kempson appeared in an Auckland court on Monday.

Det Insp Scott Beard said the University of Lincoln graduate's body was found "intact" and that officers were looking for a long-handle shovel.

He said: "At this point we don't know where this item is.

"It could be anywhere between the Scenic Drive and central Auckland areas.

"Someone may have come across it, picked it up and taken it home. We need to speak to that person or anyone who has seen it."

Officers said they have received "hundreds" of calls about the case and investigators are trying to establish a timeline of events.

On Monday, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave an emotional apology to Ms Millane's family, saying: "Your daughter should have been safe here, and she wasn't, and I'm sorry for that.

"I cannot imagine the grief of her family and what they would be experiencing and feeling right now."

Additional reporting by Press Association.