Police investigating the death of a young man in a car crash say while the incident is "unexplained" they don't believe it is suspicious.

Early yesterday, Rutger Telford Hale died in a crash on State Highway 6 around 12 kilometres from Wanaka.

The 22-year-old was driving on the Lake Hawea-Albert Town Road at about 6.25am when a "mystery object" smashed through the car's windscreen.

His 26-year-old partner was uninjured but it is understood that she had to grab the steering wheel of the blue Subaru car to control it.

Detective Sergeant Brian Cameron said this afternoon that investigators are still trying to determine what caused the crash.

"We do not have any evidence that suggests that there is anything sinister or suspicious about this crash but we need to work to piece together the logical parts of the puzzle to establish how it occurred," he said.

However, Mr Cameron said police are very keen to speak with the driver of a late model white ute that was seen in the area at the time of the incident.

"As part of any crash investigation we must work through the objective facts and gather the information that's needed to build a picture of what's happened," he said.

Police have also visited local addresses in the area to see if anyone has information that might assist.

"We're still keen for anyone to contact us if they have any information that might assist in relation to our investigation of this crash," said Mr Cameron.

Police say results from a post-mortem and any further information is not likely to be available over the next few days.

Rosie Foster, who was house sitting nearby, said she was in bed about to get up when she heard the sound of the emergency services' sirens in the area.

"I feel really awful that it happened right there and we couldn't do more. I hope it's not because someone has thrown something," she said.

Mr Hale, originally from Auckland, had been living in the Hawea area for only a few weeks.

Anyone with information about the incident should contact Wanaka police on (03) 443 7272 or their nearest police station.