Missing: 36 people vanish in region
Five weeks after Mary Berrington went missing, her daughter Susan Geerars is starting to come to terms with the fact she may have to pack up some of her mother’s belongings.
The Upper Hutt woman, who vanished on July 19, was the 36th name added to the list of people officially missing in the wider Wellington region.
Figures released by police under the Official Information Act show that since 2011 alone there have been 11 people reported missing within Hutt Valley, Kapiti Coast, Wairarapa and Wellington.
Since records of missing people began being kept, 25 males and 11 females have disappeared in the district.
Each day living with a missing family member was ‘‘horrific’’, Geerars said.
‘‘We are getting to the time soon when we are going to have to look at passing her flat onto someone else and packing up her belongings. That is another thing which is going to make the situation harder.
‘‘Every time the phone rings it is like, could that be my mum? Even walking down the street you think, oh my, and then you realise it’s not her. I am always going to be looking.’’
Geerars said she had a long list of ‘‘what ifs’’ regarding what could have happened to her mother, including foul play.
Berrington joins a list of missing people that includes names such as Kaye Stewart, who vanished on June 13, 2005, after visiting Rimutaka Forest Park for a short walk. No-one has been charged in relation to her disappearance, and the police case still remains open more than a decade later.
Not all people remain missing forever, though.
In February last year, three boys playing in bush near Ngaio found the remains of John Holmes Smith, who was reported missing in Wellington back in 1986.
The area was a place he was known to often walk.
Acting superintendent Chris Page said there were always a number of reasons why, or how, someone would go missing.
‘‘All missing person files remain active until the missing person or their body or remains are located,’’ he said.
‘‘Files are reviewed at regular intervals. Should police receive any information in relation to the missing person, the file is then reviewed, new information assessed and further lines of enquiry are progressed.’’
Page said it was important for the public to know that if a family member or friend was missing and they held serious fears for their safety that they should contact police immediately.
‘‘You do not have to wait 24 hours to report someone as missing.’’