Parents hopeful they will see their son again

‘A nightmare’: The mother of Tauranga doctor who disappeared two years ago speaks out

The parents of a Tauranga doctor who disappeared two years ago yesterday say they still have hope they will see him again. David Holland, an anaesthetics registrar at Tauranga Hospital, was last seen on in the evening of March 11, 2022 at his Papamoa home.

Holland, 31 at the time, was initially believed to have been lost at sea while swimming at his home beach but CCTV later emerged of a person who looked like him walking towards State Highway 29a.

His mother Karen Holland said that two years on from his disappearance, the family had no closure.

“We still have no news,” she said in a statement released by police. “Nothing. Just speculation. A nightmare. We want to wake up.”

She said the statement was “hard to write” but the two-year anniversary was an opportunity to reach out to New Zealanders “in my ongoing search for answers”.

“Life changed forever when I took the late night call from New Zealand telling me that there was concern about his safety,” she said.

Holland had lived in New Zealand since 2017 and had applied for residency before his disappearance, so the concerns about his safety came as a shock, she said.

Karen Holland remembered her youngest son as “clever, multitalented, sporty, caring, kind, thoughtful — such a beautiful human being.

“David is much missed by family and friends in New Zealand and the UK.”

She said she had visited her son in New Zealand several times and said that the country would always be special to her.

“I’m hoping for help from communities all over the country at this sensitive, emotional time. I’m appealing to people all over New Zealand

I’m appealing to people all over New Zealand to come forward with any information that they may have linked to his disappearance or his current whereabouts, if he is still with us.

—Karen Holland

to come forward with any information that they may have linked to his disappearance or his current whereabouts, if he is still with us.”

She appealed to anyone who might be connected to the disappearance, or knew someone who might have been, to contact the police.

She also appealed directly to her son to get in contact.

Police said that despite a number of inquiries being carried out over the last two years, David Holland’s whereabouts were still unknown.

They urged anyone with information to get in touch, quoting file number 220312/6869.

Authorities were called when Holland failed to turn up for work at Tauranga Hospital.

Family and friends expressed concern for his welfare and a missingperson inquiry began.

Originally from Swansea in Wales, Holland was a keen cyclist, surfer, hiker, snorkeller, scuba driver, free diver and an experienced swimmer who loved the sea.

When the CCTV footage emerged, Detective Inspector Craig Rawlinson said if the man in the footage was Holland, it was “the last known recording of him”.

“The male was wearing hiking boots, tan-coloured pants, and a darkcoloured long-sleeved hooded top. David had previously been recorded wearing similar clothing, all of which