Disappointing end to search
Excavation at beach fails to find missing man Joseph Ahuriri
Afresh shoreline search for missing father Joseph Ahuriri north of Napier has ended with police disappointed they have been unable to find anything to help solve the 14-month-long mystery.
Two diggers were put to work near the Esk River mouth last Monday and Tuesday to search for any sign of the Gisborne man or his white Toyota Hilux, missing since the Cyclone Gabrielle flooding on the morning of February 14 last year.
But in a display of the police determination to find answers for the family, Eastern Police officer Detective Sergeant Alex Simister, who worked in the midst of the cyclone drama as it unfolded in the valley, said police are keeping an “open mind” on what happened to Ahuriri and the vehicle.
The search was sparked by evidence of a metallic field gleaned from a drone sweep with a GNS magnometer last year. However, the search — when conditions were suitable — found nothing relevant despite excavation several metres deep.
The earlier investigations had revealed a band of storm debris on the ocean floor out to sea but nothing resembling any motor vehicles.
Thus, what little is known of the missing father-of-eight’s night in Hawke’s Bay remained unchanged. He appeared to have tried to return to Gisborne on the night of February 13, found the way blocked by a slip, checked in to a motel and resumed his attempt to get home early in the morning.
The last evidence of his whereabouts is CCTV recording of a refuelling stop pre-dawn at the Waitomo station on State Highway 2 near Petane Domain, between Hawke’s Bay Airport and Bay View.
His family were at the beach site yesterday hopeful the latest search would provide some closure, and Simister said they were being kept informed throughout the ongoing inquiry.
He said the hunt, using an excavator to move “around 2000cu m of sand” found nothing relevant.
“Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate Joseph or any items of interest in relation to his disappearance,” he said. “The result of this search is a disappointing one for us.
“I want to acknowledge the resilience of his family throughout this operation,” Simister said. “They were present at the river throughout the search and were obviously hopeful for some form of resolution. “
Two excavators were moved into the area on Sunday.
With family of the man on-site, a woman could be seen hugging a police officer in the group as the search appeared to come to an end.
A Napier resident visited the site yesterday and prayed for Ahuriri’s family, saying: “It is very, very sad. I hope it [helps them find him]. Hopefully it will bring the family some closure.”
After being spotted at a deserted truckstop in Napier at 5.46am on February 14, Ahuriri drove north on SH2, attempting to get back to his home in Gisborne.
As Cyclone Gabrielle battered Poverty Bay — and started tracking down to Hawke’s Bay on what would be a deadly wet-weather pounding with multiple fatalities in the region — Ahuriri left Gisborne about 4pm on February 13, and thought he he would be able to return that night.
“Knowing how that guy is, he would have tried to get through,” a family member had said. “He would have thought, ‘ I can do this. I know the roads. I can make it’. My daughter did everything to beg him to stay but he was like, ‘I will be alright Cuz, I just need to get home’.”