Editorial: We'd love to see missing man Joey Lloyd-Jones show up out of the blue

Joey Lloyd-Jones has been missing from Whangarei since January 27.

I have a box of tiling gear sitting in my garage that belongs to Joey Lloyd-Jones.

I would dearly love to give it back to him. Joey has been missing from Whangarei since January 27.

Last year, he tiled some steps at our house.

It was a slow start - my fault, I had bought some tiles which in his view weren't very good quality so I took them back and bought new ones which he approved of.

He was keen to do a good job with a good product.

Joey took on our job in pretty crappy weather conditions - we had to hang a tarpaulin to keep the rain out. It was damp.

One day, a sealant wouldn't dry and he was concerned he had used the wrong product.

I wasn't too worried, although he hadn't realised he had stepped in it and then walked back into the house leaving a trail of footprints.

He was mortified, I thought it was hilarious. And it was the right sealant, it just wouldn't dry in the damp atmosphere.

Joey is an excellent tiler. We also discovered he is occasionally comically disorganised.
Sometimes when you least expect it he turns up out of the blue.

It was a bonus when he did, he was conscientious and perfected his work. He does an excellent job, and he quotes a price and sticks to it.

I don't know Joey well but there is something about him I like.

He doesn't have a licence which poses a few challenges sometimes.

But we bonded over fishing stories as I drove him around town investigating tiling products and tiles.

While at our home, he was shy, and wouldn't help himself to coffee, even though we left him a key and told him to help himself.

We were happy to trust Joey - his aunt and uncle are family friends and have played a big part in his life. I don't know his dad - who calls him Joe - well, other than knowing in the 1980s he was the best rock guitarist in New Zealand, and his band used to practice in the garage next door to our house.

Joey has worked on the He Kakano Hundertwasser project at Whangarei's Town Basin, and hopes to pick up future work when construction on the larger Hundertwasser project begins.

I frequently walk out of our front door in the morning, step on to our tiles and think about him. I can only imagine the thoughts his family and friends have been experiencing.

It would be wonderful if he turned up out of the blue.