Tokoroa's Kinleith Mill closure is to be decided by the end of the month and politicians and family gather for the final day of Dame Tariana Turia’s tangihanga. Video / NZ Herald
The last time Melissa Adams Mills heard from her brother, in mid 2022, he told her his tyres had been slashed.
John Mills - 52 at the time - lived in Mt Roskill, Auckland, but had been spending time in theWaikato region.
He was reported missing to police in July 2022, but his car - a blue Nissan Pulsar with the registration YD4731 - was seen in the Waikato a short time later.
Melissa Adams Mills is frustrated with police efforts to find her missing brother, John Mills. Photo / NZ Police
After Mills disappeared, another man attempted to use his Eftpos card at a Hamilton petrol station. Adams Mills was able to get CCTV from the store, which showed the man wearing a black hoodie, a hat and what appeared to be a bandana over his face.
“The card declined, and I was later told by police they had spoken to the man who claimed my brother had given him the card to use,” she said.
“I found the information about the CCTV and Eftpos card myself and got the video before police did, and then they tried to tell me I was interfering with the investigation.”
Adams said police had stopped actively looking for her brother and were waiting to see if someone came forward with information.
John Mills' car was a blue Nissan Pulsar. Photo / NZ Police
Hamilton City area investigations manager Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Neilson said police had searched a number of areas around Waikato, including in Hamilton, but were unable to find a body.
A homicide investigation into Mills' death was launched the same year he disappeared, Neilson said, after information led police to believe he had died in “suspicious circumstances”.
“Despite significant effort being put into the investigation, we have yet to locate John’s body or who is responsible for his death.
“While the investigation is currently not actively staffed, we are determined to answer those questions and return John’s body to his loved ones,” Neilson said.
But Adams said she was unhappy with the police’s response and has not been contacted by any officer with updates for some time.
‘I wanted those answers for myself’
Since the beginning of the investigation, Adams had been collecting her own information in the hopes she could get some closure for her family.
Along with getting CCTV from the petrol station, she sent a family member to a house in Hamilton her brother had been staying at before he disappeared to talk to the occupants.
“I don’t know the person who lives there personally, but I decided if nothing was happening I wanted those answers for myself and I wanted to hear what they knew.
“Police told me not to do it, but I get nothing from police now and the public has forgotten.”
Adams said many families of the missing were doing their own work to try and find their loved ones.
“Look at the Breanna Muriwai situation for example, she went missing only a couple months after John, but her mum has had to bring attention to it herself to get answers.
“Someone murdered my brother and I don’t want that to just go away – I want the person who did it to be reminded of it.”
In terms of motive, Adams said her brother had money on him when he went to Waikato and may have got involved with the wrong people.
“He talked a lot of s..., he was very friendly, loved attention, loved a chat and to talk himself up.
“He wasn’t a member of any gang, but he just knew everybody. We grew up in South Auckland and that’s just how it was – you knew everybody.”
Adams said she did not know her brother’s circle or who he was choosing to associate with.
“It’s holidays time again which is always hard,” Adams said. “His son is a teenager now and he needs his dad in his life.”
Anyone with information about what happened to Mills was urged to come forward.
“Please – you don’t have to say names, just tell me where his body is.”
Their mother had recently been diagnosed with cancer, she said, which made the need for closure even more pressing.
“He was my parents' only son. We all want closure – we can’t list him as dead or have a proper funeral to grieve.”
Neilson thanked everyone who had come forward with information so far, and urged anyone who had not been in touch with police to contact them on 105 using the reference file number 220620/9565.
