VICKI WATERHOUSE
DARRELL Crawford loved motorbikes and the speedway - and this is how his father wants him remembered.
"He loved motorbikes, all the things that guys like," he said. "He had a mini sprint that he used to race at the speedway ... he used to enjoy it."
Darrell Crawford is now the subject of a homicide inquiry, which began this week after police received information that he had been murdered.
A police media conference was held yesterday at the Tauranga police station regarding the disappearance of Mr Crawford and William Taikato, who is believed to have been murdered around the same time.
No details were released about how, when, where or why they were murdered.
Police have said both men were involved with the local drug scene.
Di O'Brien, Darrell Crawford's mother in Brisbane, said she would remember her only son the way she saw him last.
"He had a beautiful nature. He was such a softy, a very very gentle nature," she said. "Ultimately he was just a loving guy."
She was not aware her son was involved with drugs until after he disappeared, and was shocked. "If I'd known, or had any indication I'd have been able to help," she said.
Mr Crawford said he was upset his son has been labelled a drug dealer. He felt it was incorrect and there was more to him than that.
"He wasn't the big drug dealer [the media] sort of portrays him to be. He was one of these guys that tried things and basically got in over his head," he said.
Mr Crawford acknowledged that his son had a problem with drugs in the months before his disappearance but said he was seeking help, and admitted himself to Tauranga Hospital's psychiatric unit. "He was actually trying to get off it," he said.
Unfortunately, it didn't last. Because Darrell Crawford was a voluntary in-patient, he signed himself out once he felt better, after taking prescribed anti-depressants.
"It was unfortunate. There wasn't much we could do about that, he's really an adult and he can do basically what he wants," Mr Crawford said.
Born in Wellington, Darrell Crawford moved to Tauranga aged 11. His mother stayed in Wellington, later moving to Brisbane.
He went to Mount Maunganui College before becoming a welder. Mr Crawford said when his son got involved with drugs, he changed for the worse.
"[He became] very paranoid with other people, people on TV talking to him that sort of thing ... just really really strange. It wasn't the same guy, you know, it was like two different people altogether."
Mr Crawford said he had reached the conclusion that his son was dead some time ago, after seeing psychics and searching as best he could.
"When we first heard, it sort of knocked me ... we kept an open mind for months," he said. "I said to them [the police] a while back that my gut feeling was that he wasn't around.
"It had a hell of an impact. I don't know how many kilometres we've travelled looking in different places. It's a nightmare. Basically, it's like living in another world."
Mr Crawford said he and his wife just want the body back so they can have closure, and Ms O'Brien also desperately wanted her son returned.
"I do believe he's dead. It's all but seven months now. Darrell would not have not been in contact ...
"Ultimately at this stage the most important thing is just getting him back.
"We just want to be able to put him to rest, above all else."
Anybody with any information relating to this case, call Tauranga Police on 577 4300 or call the confidential line 0800 SPEAK UP.