The Herald’s new podcast Chasing Ghosts investigates the case of missing toddler Amber Lee Cruickshank in 1992.
A fresh Cold Case episode revisiting the disappearance of toddler Amber-Lee Cruickshank has led to police receiving multiple calls from people with information, they say.
The show aired on TVNZ last night and revealed detectives are “desperately” wanting to speak to a person who gave information anonymously in 2010.
The plea comes after receiving new information from a “credible source” after police put out a cash incentive last year, Detective Sergeant John Kean said.
The incentive offered a $100,000 reward for information or evidence leading to the identity and conviction of anyone responsible for Amber-Lee’s disappearance.
“We received information from a credible source that one of the residents from Kingston may have some knowledge or even possible involvement in the disappearance,” Kean said.
Detective Sergeant John Kean is the current head of Operation Oliver, the search for Amber-Lee Cruickshank. Photo / Mike Scott
With this new information, detectives have turned their focus back to a person of interest from the area who was at the house on the day Amber-Lee went missing, saying there are inconsistencies in the man’s statements.
“In his first statement he stated that he didn’t see Amber-Lee when he arrived at the address, in his second statement he talked about seeing her playing with the dog in front of the bus,” Detective Stuart Harvey said.
Kean said the recent information they have received is connected to the information they received in 2010.
“The information from 2010 is quite significant in its own right [and] coupled with the recent information we’ve got I’d really desperately like to speak to that person, anonymously if that suits them, and to any person that they may have told that story to, please make contact with the police,” Kean said.
A police spokesperson told the Herald today that they received a number of calls after the show aired and the information given would now be reviewed by the enquiry team.
Amber-Lee was at the Kingston property with her mother, stepfather and baby brother when she went missing - the family had left their home in Invercargill and were heading to the West Coast to start a new life together.
They stopped at Kingston for a night to catch up with friends.
Nicola Cruickshank gazes out on the waters of Lake Wakatipu, near where Amber-Lee disappeared. Pictures / Mike Scott
After an afternoon by the lake and a barbecue, the toddler vanished and despite exhaustive land and water searches there has been no sign of her in three decades.
Kean said those attending the barbecue weren’t all known to each other.
Amber Lee’s mum Nicola Cruickshank also featured in the Cold Case show and said she didn’t believe the people they were staying with had anything to do with her daughter’s disappearance.
Nicola pleaded for the person responsible to have a heart and to tell them where Amber-Lee is and what happened to her.
“I still remember that night and I could not believe that they didn’t walk through the door with her, I never thought for one minute [that] 30 years down the track I’d be sitting here today still looking for answers,” she said.
Listen to Chasing Ghosts, the NZ Herald podcast about Amber-Lee’s disappearance
