Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Body recovered from bush

By Natasha Harris
Northern Advocate·
6 Mar, 2006 05:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article


Police are not seeking anyone else in connection with the death of Kerikeri woman Cristel De Vetten after a body was found in dense bush near her home at the weekend.
Searchers found the body among trees about 325m from Ms De Vetten's Matua Block home - 20-30m outside the police's
original search area - on Saturday morning.
The body was found off a track leading from her house to the beach among regenerating native bush so thick police had to cut a track through it.
Ms De Vetten, 30, disappeared from her rural home on February 10, leaving her four-year-old son Jaxon by himself.
Her partner, John Craven, feared she had been abducted. Ms De Vetten had been reportedly depressed before she went missing, partly because of a custody battle over Jaxon with a former partner.
Kaikohe police Detective Rhys Johnston said police and Ms De Vetten's family were relieved to have closure regarding her disappearance.
"They're obviously saddened by it but I think there's probably quite a bit of relief that they at least know where she is," Mr Johnston said.
The family could not be contacted for comment.
As of yesterday, Ms De Vetten's body had not been formally identified. A post mortem was being carried out in Auckland.
The body was found by police at 11.30am on Saturday.
Around 25 police and Far North Search and Rescue workers took part in the prolonged search for her.
Mr Johnston said it was the first time police had conducted a ground search in that area.
"While there are no indications of suspicious activity at the scene, a determination as to the cause of death will be left to the coroner," Mr Johnston said.
He was still satisfied the original 300m search perimeter - as suggested by the Far North Search and Rescue team - around the house had been sufficient. The body thought to be that of Ms De Vetten was found 20-30m outside that perimeter.
During the three-week search, aerial, ground and water searches were carried out. A corpse-seeking dog was also used.
Ms De Vetten lived in the Netherlands and New Zealand, mainly in the Far North, as a child. Her mother is deceased and her father lives in Australia.
She worked at early childcare centres around Kerikeri and loved children.
At a press conference two weeks ago, her sister, Nicki said Ms De Vetten was caring, honest, gentle and a "good mum".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

'A sadistic flavour': Paedophile's jail time extended after more predatory offending revealed

25 Jun 07:00 AM
Northern Advocate

Man pleads not guilty to charges in death of Bay of Islands nurse

25 Jun 04:00 AM
Northern Advocate

Northland woman's plan to tackle boy racer culture gains traction

25 Jun 03:00 AM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

'A sadistic flavour': Paedophile's jail time extended after more predatory offending revealed

'A sadistic flavour': Paedophile's jail time extended after more predatory offending revealed

25 Jun 07:00 AM

Former principal James Parker's number of victims has now climbed to 22.

Man pleads not guilty to charges in death of Bay of Islands nurse

Man pleads not guilty to charges in death of Bay of Islands nurse

25 Jun 04:00 AM
Northland woman's plan to tackle boy racer culture gains traction

Northland woman's plan to tackle boy racer culture gains traction

25 Jun 03:00 AM
Northland’s council water shake-up: Big changes, bigger bills ahead?

Northland’s council water shake-up: Big changes, bigger bills ahead?

25 Jun 01:52 AM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP