Eloi Rolland: Parents of missing French teen return to New Zealand

Eloi Rolland disappeared from West Auckland on March 7 2020. The 18-year-old was thought to be on his way to Piha.

The parents of missing French teen Eloi Rolland have returned to New Zealand.

Thierry and Catherine Rolland posted an ad in a Central Otago newspaper seeking sightings of their son, who hasn’t been seen since he disappeared from West Auckland on March 7, 2020.

That morning, the 18-year-old searched Google Maps for directions to Piha about 5am, catching a bus, a train and walking 11km in an hour and 46 minutes before turning on to Piha Rd just after 9am.

Since then, despite multiple searches and a police investigation, Rolland’s fate remains unknown.

Eloi Rolland was captured on CCTV at Britomart Train Station the morning of his disappearance in 2020.

In 2022, after the Covid-19 lockdowns and border closures that began just after the teen’s disappearance, his parents came to New Zealand in the hope of finding their son.

Last month they returned, this time focusing their efforts on the South Island because a French tourist had reported speaking to Rolland in Te Anau a few days after his disappearance, according to the July 31 ad.

“We are currently back in New Zealand touring the South Island to continue our search for Eloi, in the hope he may be alive.”

They were halfway through their journey, wrote the couple, who couldn’t immediately be contacted by the Herald.

“We love him very much and need to know if he is alive and healthy.”

Eloi Rolland came to New Zealand in 2019 to learn English. Six months later he vanished without trace in the area of Piha, West Auckland.

The couple have set up a Facebook page as part of their search, titled Missing ELOI JEAN Rolland.

They encouraged people with any sightings or information to contact police on 105, citing the reference number 200310/8987.

The police file on Rolland remains open and police have said no evidence has been found that suggests he was the victim of foul play.

Waitematā Police Detective Inspector Callum McNeill said police looked into the Te Anau sighting at the time it was made, but found nothing to support it, The Press reported.

Rolland arrived in New Zealand in September 2019 to learn English, but while his first months passed smoothly, his life later began to unravel.

An unreciprocated love interest towards a fellow student and deteriorating mental health created issues with his host families and employers, and worried his language school tutor so much she thought he needed to return to France.

The Montpellier native was fired from two hospitality jobs, one after he ran around dining tables saying he had coronavirus.

He also had a 3am encounter with high-profile restaurateur Leo Molloy.

Before his disappearance, a plane ticket was booked for Rolland to return home on March 20, 2020.

He promised his mother he would collect sand from Piha Beach for her as a souvenir first.

Eloi Rolland had promised to collect some sand from Piha Beach for his mother. Photo / Alex Robertson

In 2022, McNeill told the Herald he thought it was unlikely Rolland made it to the black sands of Piha Beach.

“My thoughts are still the bush. He’s potentially tried to take a shortcut to the beach and didn’t realise how far that would be and overestimated his abilities.

“It’s pretty gnarly in there. It is possible he’s just thought, ‘Well, I think it’s a straight line down here, shouldn’t be a problem’, and maybe he’s come to grief in the bush somewhere.”