What DOC worker told police
Police suggested to the last person to see Wellington woman Kaye Stewart alive before she vanished during a short walk a decade ago that he might have accidentally hit her with his quad bike, according to documents released to Fairfax Media.
A transcript of police interviews and statements about the case, released by the Ministry of Justice under the Official Information Act, revealed the suggestion was put to then-DOC worker Gary Bak, who strongly denied it.
Stewart, a retired Karori physiotherapist, disappeared on June 13, 2005, after visiting Rimutaka Forest Park for a short walk about 10.45am. No-one has been charged by police in relation to her disappearance, and the case still remains open 10 years later.
According to a transcript of an interview with Bak in April 2009, Detective Anaru Pewhairangi, of the Wainuiomata police, told him police had concerns about Bak’s account of where he saw Stewart.
At the time, police believed his most likely interaction with her occurred at Kereru Corner, near the park’s road end and close to the ford where she parked her car that morning.
Bak told the detective he spent about half an hour at Kereru Corner that morning chopping down a tree for firewood from about 11.45am to 12.15pm.
Bak also told the detective that the only time he spoke to Stewart was about 1.15pm that day after she approached him on foot outside Hunter’s Bach, which was close to the park’s entrance and where he had been temporarily living with his family. His wife and daughter, who were inside the bach watching TV, overhead him talking with Stewart that day, he said. Stewart asked for directions back to the ford and headed off.
‘‘Now bear with me, it makes more sense that it happened here . . . Whether it’s an accident or not. Whether you’ve potentially hit her with your quad bike or not,’’ the detective said to Bak.
Bak replied: ‘‘I haven’t done anything stupid like that.’’
Pewhairangi persisted: ‘‘Well, why, hang on, it is a possibility because you’ve got a quad bike, there’s a person here, you’ve got a history previously and a warning on your file for the way you drive your quad bike. That it is a possibility, Gary, that it could have been an accident.
‘‘Gary, whether it’s an accident or whatever’s happened here, we believe something’s happened here between you and Kaye,’’ he said.
Bak replied: ‘‘Oh well, you’re wrong.’’
The detective also asked Bak if he knew what had happened to Stewart.
‘‘No. If I know what had bloody happened to her, she would have been found, wouldn’t she,’’ he replied.
The 2009 interview transcript stated Bak gave three formal statements to police, including doing a reconstruction of his movements the day Stewart vanished.
It revealed he gave a DNA sample to police, and a forensic examination of his clothing and the bach was performed in 2005, including luminol testing, used by to detect traces of blood.
When Wellington coroner Garry Evans released his findings into her case nearly two years ago, he said Stewart was dead and her body had been either destroyed, irrecoverable or lost.
Foul play was considered by police as the most likely cause, but all ‘‘persons of interest’’ were alibied and eliminated after extensive police enquiries, he said.
On Friday, Bak declined to comment on the case, but confirmed he stood by previous statements to police.
Police revealed in June that they planned to re-interview some people involved in the case because fresh information had surfaced after a story about Stewart appeared in The Dominion Post and on Stuff.
The fresh information is not understood to relate to Bak.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Sears, who was in charge of Stew- art’s file, declined to comment about Bak.
‘‘This is an open investigation. Many people have been spoken to in various capacities over the length of this inquiry.
‘‘I’m not going to comment specifically about individuals.’’
Stewart’s family also declined to comment.