Joseph Ahuriri has been missing since the morning Cyclone Gabrielle unleashed destruction on Hawke's Bay - but police say his disappearance is unlikely to be cyclone-related.
As heavy rain battered Hawke’s Bay in the darkness of the morning of February 14, a white Toyota Hilux pulled into a near-deserted truck stop on the outskirts of Napier.
CCTV footage shows the vehicle’s lone occupant – Gisborne man Joseph Ahuriri – getting out of his vehicle as the deadly Cyclone Gabrielle was lashing the region; then walking around it, in the process checking out the front and the back of the ute.
The clip captured by a colour camera situated at the Waitomo Fuel Stop at Bay View shows Ahuriri looking backwards towards Napier before it cuts out. At one point a truck drives out from the back of the unattended fuel stop out onto the main road.
It is the last known sighting of the father-of-eight, who has links to the Gisborne-based chapter of Black Power NZ.
The family of Ahuriri – who was attempting to travel back to Gisborne - fear his ute might have been washed away by raging floodwaters that slammed through Hawke’s Bay that morning.
Another scenario some fear is that his ute – registration DZH116 - was swept off SH2 somewhere between Napier and Wairoa, or that the vehicle was buried in one of many slips on the still unpassable route.
But Eastern District Commander Superintendent Jeanette Park said in late February police believed Ahuriri’s disappearance was unlikely to be cyclone-related, “although this cannot be fully ruled out”.
Ahuriri’s older brother Mike Ahuriri reacted angrily to the comment, saying: “The statement... it may not be Cyclone Gabrielle-related is bulls***”.
Other theories that have been bandied around Hawke’s Bay include that something untoward has happened to Ahuriri; the basis of some of those is due to his gang links.
Almost two months on police – as well as his family – are at a loss as to what has happened to Ahuriri.
“Police searching for missing man Joseph Ahuriri have so far not located anything of relevance to their investigation,” a police spokesperson said in a statement to the Herald this week.
“The investigation and search are ongoing.”
The statement was in response to a series of questions put to police by the Herald over the mysterious disappearance.
Those questions included whether it was being treated as a criminal case, whether police were aware of Ahuriri’s links to Black Power NZ and whether they had interviewed gang members and Black Power NZ representatives.
We also asked if more official searches were planned for Ahuriri.
To date those searches have included Whakatu, Clive, Esk Valley, along the Napier-Taupo road, SH5 and SH2; in addition to many of the rural roads off SH5 and SH2.
Late last month police divers searched the coastline near Esk River for the missing 40-year-old.
Personnel from the Royal New Zealand Navy’s dive and hydrographic unit, HMNZS Matataua, also conducted underwater searches of the coastline.
“Police would like to thank personnel from the Royal New Zealand Navy, LandSAR and Coastguard who have been involved in the searches so far, for sharing their time, knowledge and resources,” the police statement said.
With no apparent concrete leads, police have again appealed to the public for any information including CCTV or dashcam footage that might feature Ahuriri’s white ute.
One thing that they have ruled out is “false speculation” that a second person could be seen in the CCTV footage of Ahuriri at the 24-hour fuel stop.
Some family members had raised questions after watching the short clip whether there might have been a mystery person travelling with Ahuriri.
That theory was based on shadows and an open ute door that can be seen in the video.
But Inspector Martin James, of Hawke’s Bay police, has stated that after the footage had been “extensively reviewed”, officers were satisfied it featured no one but Ahuriri.
“The claims of a second person appear to relate to what is in fact an open door on Joseph’s vehicle,” James said on March 16.
“The team investigating Joseph’s disappearance are working extremely hard to confirm his movements and provide answers for his whānau.
“Speculation such as this often comes from a place of people wanting to help, however the spread of misinformation such as this can be a significant hindrance to a police investigation.”
Police revealed the previous day that the search area for Ahuriri had been widely extended, including around remote areas north of Bay View.
Initially it focused around Whakatu, Clive, Esk Valley, sections of SH2 and the Napier-Taupo road.
Extending the search into remote areas north of Bay View had come after the discovery of the CCTV footage, which showed him driving off north towards Bay View village.
Family members – including one of Ahuriri’s brothers and an uncle – have also been conducting their own search for the 40-year-old.
Footage shared on social media from the family searches shows them travelling down various rural roads which were covered in mud, silt and slips in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Tracking Ahuriri’s movements on the morning of his disappearance had been “complicated” for police by the fact most CCTV cameras in Hawke’s Bay were down due to power cuts related to the cyclone.
Ahuriri left his Gisborne home on Monday, February 13, around 4pm heading for Napier; around a three-hour drive. He said he expected to be back around 2am Tuesday; meaning he would be leaving Napier by 11pm.
As he drove south, Cyclone Gabrielle was bearing down on his route.
Around the time he would have originally planned to leave after the short night-time stopover in Gisborne, severe flooding was beginning beyond Esk Valley.
Given the weather conditions, Ahuriri booked a room at Scenic Hotel Te Pania, on Marine Pde.
He checked out of the hotel at 4.28am.
The first CCTV sighting of Ahuriri on the morning of February 14 was of him heading south in Havelock North at 5.15am.
His cellphone later pinged off a tower at Whakatu – north of Havelock North heading back towards Napier – at 5.30am.
In the days after Cyclone Gabrielle’s deadly destruction on Hawke’s Bay, Ahuriri was among the more than 4500 people listed as not being able to be contacted by friends, neighbours or family.
By February 28, Park said that number had now been reduced to just five people.
Ahuriri had been categorised as a missing person.
“While Joseph has had no contact with family or police since the cyclone, inquiries to date suggest it is unlikely that his disappearance is cyclone-related, although this cannot be fully ruled out,” Park said.
“We urge Joseph, or anyone who has seen him since 13/14 February, to please get in touch with police so we can let his family know he is safe.”
As police appeal for any more information, and family and friends carry out their own searches, his loved ones face an agonising wait.
Daughter Jah Cameron has made repeated appeals on social media – including on the Missing: Joseph Ahuriri page created on Facebook on March 12 – for any information about her dad’s location.
Talking to the Herald four days after the page was launched, she said she believed her dad was still alive.
“We just want our dad home,” she said.
“We know our dad is still alive, we don’t feel that he is gone. He is still here with us, he is just somewhere else and needs to be found.
“I feel numb, it’s like a real empty feeling for all my siblings as well.
“All we do every day when we are outside is call out to him, ‘Dad...Dad’ and we get no reply. All we hear is the echo.”
Their quest for answers had even seen them speak to a psychic.
“We have done everything in our power to get them so now we turn to the spirit realm. We will wait for answers from them,” she said.
The family would do all they could to find any answers.
“We are willing to spend every last dollar to find our father, just like he would have, he would have gone to any length if it was any of us missing,” Cameron said.
“We just want our dad home.”
Ahuriri’s partner, Clarissa Poi, spoke of her heartbreak a week after he went missing.
“It’s been seven days since I last spoke with him and my heart breaks every minute that passes,” Poi told the Herald.
“I have to return home to our kids who are just as worried and I can’t bear to look at them and say ‘I didn’t find Daddy’.”
* Anyone with information that could assist the investigation – including CCTV or dashcam footage – is asked to contact police via 105 and quote file number 230225/2804.
Much of the South Island is set to plunge below 0C tonight and tomorrow.