Cindy Li’s location not checked for 12 days

The house Auckland woman Cindy Li was found in had not been checked by police in the 12 days she had been missing, despite extensive searches and a doorknocking mission by police.

Li, 70, was reported missing from her home in Sandringham on Tuesday November 9. She was found on Sunday, at a secured, residential address near her home.

She was in a critical condition, described by police as ‘‘extremely dehydrated’’, and was admitted to the intensive care unit of Auckland Hospital.

‘‘The address she was located in, alone, was not currently occupied by the owner and was secured,’’ said a police spokesman yesterday. ‘‘The first time it was searched by police was when she was located.’’

Li had access to the property where she was found. She remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition.

A police spokesman said inquiries are ongoing in relation to Li’s movements, as some circumstances of her disappearance will not be clear until she is well enough to speak to police.

Police have previously said foul play isn’t suspected in regard to the disappearance and subsequent condition Li was found in.

‘‘This view remains unchanged,’’ said the spokesman.

Former private investigator and police officer Mark Templeman said he understands how the failure to check the house may seem like an oversight but, given we are still to learn the details, it’s difficult to say for sure. ‘‘For a situation like that, where they must have been very close to considering it a homicide investigation, I would have thought that they would have made inquiries with the owner of that unit to gain access, just to be sure,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s just one of those hindsight things, in a perfect world they would have checked it, and they would have inquired into it.’’

On the other hand, police could argue there were no indicators the house needed to be checked, given the address was locked and secure, Templeman said.

‘‘If it had been a homicide investigation, where they were seriously concerned whether something bad had happened to her, they would have forced entry or got the keys from the owner.’’

This isn’t the first time police proficiency has been questioned. In 2009, police looking for a woman failed to check her husband’s car, which was parked outside the property being searched, until two days into the investigation – the boot contained her body.