Family hope for closure from autopsy results
The post-mortem on a body, believed to be that of missing man Raymond Horn, is expected to be carried out today, police say.
The body of a man was discovered by a member of the public in a wooded area near the intersection of Bill Richardson Drive and Beatrice St in Invercargill on Friday.
Horn has been missing for six weeks. The 68-year-old, who had dementia and could not talk after suffering from a stroke, went missing after he walked out of Walmsley House rest home on February 15.
‘‘If it is him, it puts everyone’s mind at rest, including the family,’’ Detective Alun Griffiths said.
‘‘It’s always good to get someone back to their loved ones.
‘‘Until the formal identification and post-mortem processes have been completed, police are not able to provide any further comment or information.’’
After the discovery of the body on Friday, Horn’s sister, Wendy Lee-Arona, said: ‘‘If it is him I am just so pleased he has been found.’’
She wanted to give a ‘‘big thank you’’ to everyone involved in trying to locate Horn during the past weeks.
On the day he vanished he had left the rest home after 9am, made his way to Queens Park about a kilometre away, and disappeared from public view.
The area where the body was found on Friday was about 1km from Queens Park.
Since Horn’s disappearance, there had been multiple searches around Invercargill which included LandSAR volunteers.
Susan Hodson, who set up a Facebook page asking people to keep an eye out for Horn, helped to distribute 16,500 fliers about his disappearance and helped search, had a feeling the man found on Friday was Horn.
‘‘I hope it is him, so he can go home to his family and be laid to rest properly,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s brought relief that he has been found.’’
Hodson herself could understand how the family was feeling – her cousin who went missing at sea 35 years ago was never found.
‘‘I hope it is him, so he can go home to his family and be laid to rest properly.’’
Searcher Susan Hodson