Murder fears for men missing since 1975

By John Andrews

Police believe two men who disappeared in dense King Country bush 24 years ago may have been murdered.

They suspect the men were shot near Raetihi and say chances of finding their remains are remote.

Police know the name of one of the missing men - Lionel Sydney Russell, who would be celebrating his 50th birthday this year if he were still alive - but have been unable to establish the identity of his companion.

Complicating the case further is the fate of a third man, possibly associated with the killer, whose abandoned car is believed to have been set on fire in an Auckland Airport car park in the 1970s.

Sergeant Mike Hill, of the Ohakune police, hopes publicity will prompt potential witnesses to volunteer vital details to help solve the mystery, which has drug-dealing overtones.

Hampering the investigation is the fact that police have no records of anyone reporting the trio as missing until August 1997, when Mr Russell's relatives revealed their suspicions.

Members of Mr Russell's family told Sergeant Hill, then a detective, that, after piecing together clues and snippets of information over the years, they suspected that Mr Russell and his unnamed companion were slain in the spring of 1975.

Mr Russell, described variously as a tobacco, mill and farm worker with "a chequered past," and his unidentified friend often spent weeks at a time near Ruatiti and Mangapurua areas of the Tongariro National Park, one of the most remote bush-clad spots in New Zealand.

Mr Russell was married, had a 1-year-old son and lived in the Putaruru area at the time he disappeared.

The second missing man was taller than Mr Russell, who stood at 175cm (5ft 9 in). Police have few clues about his identity.

They believe he is or was European, taller than 183cm (6ft) and about the same age.

"We believe Lionel and his mates owned an old, black-coloured Chevrolet hearse at the time," said Sergeant Hill.

"We don't know what happened to the hearse, but people would remember someone driving a vehicle like that."

Police believe the third man, whose fate remains unclear, may have been a "Jim Gatehouse," who used to break in horses in the Ruatiti area.

"Something is said to have happened and he is said to have fled to Australia," said Sergeant Hill.

"People have heard a rumour that his car was found burned out at Auckland Airport. We have made local inquiries but no one knows him."

Checks of computer-based fingerprint data in New Zealand and in Australia through Interpol have shed no light on the missing men.

"Lionel's mum always believed he would come back," said Sergeant Hill, who said he could not rule out that the men might still be alive.

He wants to hear from anyone who reported men missing around 1975-76.