Mother hopes her son will be found
A South Canterbury mother cannot describe the pain she feels as she holds on to hope she will see her son again.
Rosie Santana is hoping for a miracle and, on days punctuated by prayers and tears, she remains resolute in her belief she will be reunited with her boy.
Her son, Yuri, went missing on October 4. He was last seen on Badham Rd, northeast of Temuka, an hour after he was spotted at Rangitata Huts Rd, near the mouth of the Rangitata River.
Subsequent search and rescue efforts in the Rangitata River area failed to find any sign of the missing teenager.
Rosie and husband Joeliton hired a private investigator in January to help look for their son. A Givealittle page was set up to help pay for that work. It raised $660.
The family let the private investigator go in March as ‘‘nothing new had come up’’.
Rosie on Friday said she found strength in her faith as she and her family endured a devastating nine months.
‘‘I can’t even describe the pain I feel,’’ she said.
‘‘We are hoping for a miracle, I pray every day, I cry every day.
‘‘There’s nothing much more we can do, I have a strong faith, I believe we will find him.’’
The moved to New Zealand from Brazil almost 11 years ago. ’’It has been so hard not having my family here.’’
She had hoped Yuri would be home by November this year, when she planned to visit her family in Brazil.
She bought airfares for a family holiday last year. They were meant to be used last November; their date was extended a year after it became clear Yuri had disappeared.
So many months after his disappearance, Rosie urged anyone who might know where Yuri is now – or was, then – to come forward with what they know.
The family needed to have Yuri home. ’’I’m so tired, exhausted, sick.’’
The last, unconfirmed sighting of a man that looked like Yuri was in March, near Pleasant Point. Rosie she was convinced Yuri was still alive but not in South Canterbury.
‘‘I can feel it,’’ she said. Police Mid-South Canterbury area commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said there had been a number of unconfirmed sightings of Yuri over the last nine months but the police were confident none were of Yuri.
The police had carried out ‘‘extensive searching’’.
He confirmed the police would have to refer the case to the coroner if, ‘‘after a certain amount of time’’, nothing was found to suggest a missing person would be found.
That decision was yet to be made.
Yuri is described as 1.82 metres tall, of medium build with dark hair.
He was last seen wearing light blue shorts and a light grey zip-up jacket with green stripes on the sleeves.