NZ’s missing people: When does a disappearance become a homicide inquiry? - The Front Page

Hundreds go missing in NZ every year, but only in rare cases - such as Ben Smart and Olivia Hope - do those missing persons inquiries turn into homicide investigations.

While hundreds of people go missing in New Zealand every year, most of the time it only takes a few days or weeks before they return or the police track them down.

However, dozens of people still remain officially missing in Aotearoa, and some of them never come back.

Senior crime and justice reporter Anna Leask has written in depth about New Zealand’s historic missing persons cases, and tells the Herald’s daily news podcast The Front Page there is no specific length of time someone needs to be on the police missing person list before they are removed.

“Police will only close a case or refer it to the coroner when they feel like they have done everything they can do and there’s just nothing known [regarding] police work that will help. There are a lot of cases where all roads lead to someone taking their own life or being lost in the New Zealand wilderness, in the water or in the bush.”

Some cases remain open for decades, such as that of Jim Donnelly, who disappeared in June 2004 after showing up for work at the Glenbrook Steel Mill. Police still have an open file on him, and Leask said that’s one example of police believing there are unexplored avenues of inquiry, or the possibility that someone knows something.

“[The cases] are effectively never closed until there is just nothing else police can do to find further answers.”

Meanwhile, in situations where police believe there has been foul play, they get escalated to homicide investigations - even if that body is never found.

Leask said there have only been three cases in New Zealand where someone has been convicted of murder without a body.

“Ben Smart and Olivia Hope went missing in the Marlborough Sounds, and Scott Watson was convicted of killing them. Their bodies have never been found. One in Christchurch recently - a guy called Michael McGrath went missing, and his old school friend has been convicted of his murder. Again, no bodies found there.

“Back in 1942, there was a guy called George Horry, and his wife disappeared in the Waitākere Ranges the day after they got married, and he was convicted of her murder. So it is rare.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more from Anna Leask on historic New Zealand missing persons cases and what happens when a coroner’s ruling is made without a body being found.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. This episode was presented by Katie Harris, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in social issues reporting who joined the Herald in 2020.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.