By SCOTT INGLIS
Jason Kearney was robbed of cash and cannabis at his Auckland home a week before he went missing four years ago, police believe.
Three informants have told detectives that two people arrived without warning at Mr Kearney's Pakuranga home to collect money he owed them, and that they robbed him.
He apparently owed a few hundred dollars.
The new lead emerged just two days after South Auckland detectives revealed that they believed Mr Kearney, previously considered a missing person, was murdered.
Mr Kearney, then aged 26, vanished on Saturday, August 17, 1996, and his red Nissan Pulsar car was found in the Cosseys Dam carpark in the Hunua Ranges.
His body was never found despite extensive searches, leaving his shattered family with no answers.
Mr Kearney dabbled in cannabis and police said that he could have been in the Hunuas to shift his cannabis plot.
One theory they were investigating was that he was slain in a bungled drug deal.
His father, Ray, rejected that theory, saying his son had only four cannabis plants, and that it was more likely he had stumbled across his killers.
The officer leading the murder hunt, Detective Sergeant Mark Gutry, said any scenario was possible.
He confirmed that Mr Kearney had acted as a taxi driver for Auckland prostitutes for a few months.
Herald inquiries revealed that Mr Kearney was licensed to carry passengers.
Police have no evidence to suggest gang involvement in the disappearance.
Detective Sergeant Gutry said there had been a strong public response to the inquiry so far.
Missing man was robbed, police told
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