Vanished in Russia: Kiwi family in limbo 18 years after Blenheim father’s disappearance

Kevin Borcovsky disappeared while researching his family history in Russia in 2006 – and has never been seen since.

Nearly two decades after Kevin Borcovsky vanished in Russia, his family remain in limbo. Despite early signs pointing to foul play – including the discovery of his belongings and a failed attempt to use his train ticket by a stranger – no new leads have emerged. The case remains one of New Zealand’s most haunting international disappearances, and Borcovsky’s family say the lack of closure is “frustrating”, as they continue to hope for answers from a case that has long gone cold. Anna Leask reports.

In one of the last emails Kevin “Dax” Borcovsky sent to his loved ones from Russia, he left instructions for what they should do in the event of a tragedy.

Neither he nor they ever imagined that, soon after he hit send, that is exactly what they would be facing.

“If, by chance, I do fall prey to bears or wolves, don’t worry too much about rehabilitating my bones. Use the insurance to inter them near a pretty church overlooking the nearest river, perhaps with a balalaika quartet and ... folk tunes,” the Blenheim man wrote.

On or about September 20, 2006, Borcovsky went missing in Russia, never to be seen or heard from again.

His family believe he was murdered – probably “knifed” to death – and his body disposed of. To date, they have no idea how or why.

“It’s frustrating … we have no idea,” his brother Colin Borcovsky told the Herald.

“It happened in the winter … I really thought that, come the spring over there, somebody walking along in the bush would find something … but that hasn’t happened.”

Borcovsky, 55 and a father of four, was tracing his family history in the former Soviet state when he vanished.

Kevin Borcovsky was tracing his family history in Russia.

His grandfather and father left Russia for Australia, then New Zealand, in a journey that began in 1917.

Borcovsky’s grandfather was a confirmed Tsarist, and it is thought he fled Tynda - a small, remote city in Russia’s Amur Oblast, in the country’s far east near the border with China - with police close on his heels, his life otherwise forfeit in the turmoil that led to Lenin taking power.

Borcovsky in Russia.

“It could all go way back to then … someone never forgetting,” Colin said of his brother’s disappearance and a possible connection to their forefathers.

Borcovsky was reported missing when he did not return to New Zealand as planned.

The last contact he had with anyone was an email to one of his daughters on September 20, 2006. He was en route to Tynda – about three hours out from his destination at the time.

From there, he was to take a 40-hour train ride to Khabarovsk – one of the largest cities in the Russian Far East, about 800km north of Vladivostok.

But he never took the journey.

It later emerged that the next day, a woman tried to cash in the ticket Borcovsky had purchased at the train station.

Rebuffed, she returned with Borcovsky’s passport and a man claiming to be the New Zealander. They were again denied the money.

After he was reported missing, police tracked the woman down and found several items belonging to Borcovsky, including his diaries, three rolls of film and two Lonely Planet travel books.

The woman explained that she “found” the items in a plastic bag by a river.

Weeks later, police went back to question the woman further, but found her dead – killed in a fire along with the three men she shared a house with.

For a long time, police in New Zealand worked with their Russian counterparts to piece together what happened to Borcovsky.

Borcovsky's last known whereabouts was Tynda in Russia.

To this day, every inquiry has ended in a dead end. All efforts to uncover answers have come up empty.

“Nothing’s really happened for seven or eight years; we haven’t heard from anyone,” said Colin Borcovsky.

“That’s where we’re at the moment.”

Now 82, he says he has “lost a bit of enthusiasm” for continuing the search for his brother.

He still gets emotional speaking about the loss and the impact on the family – the pain, anger and frustration are clear.

“There’s nothing you can do about it. We don’t know what happened or how it happened,” he said.

“When you look at the whole thing … it seems a bit fishy. I mean, when you look at how they just suddenly died in a house fire – that was the first thing that wasn’t normal.”

Borcovsky is still listed as a missing person on the New Zealand police website. His face and details are included alongside 44 other men, women and children.

Numbered among them are Amber-Lee Cruickshank, Kirsa Jensen, John Beckenridge and his stepson Mike; more recent disappearances include Breanna Muriwai, Jessica Boyce and Eloi Rolland.

The police missing person listing. Photo / NZ Police

“Last confirmed sighting was when he purchased a ticket at the Tynda Railway station in Russia for his onward journey,” the listing for Borcovsky reads.

“He never made that trip.”

Police confirmed the investigation had well stagnated.

“Police and Russian authorities made a number of inquiries in Russia and New Zealand to locate Mr Borcovsky in the immediate period after he was reported missing; however, none led to locating him,” a spokesperson said.

“Unfortunately, there are no further lines of inquiry, and the missing persons’ file has been inactivated both in New Zealand and Russia, with relevant alerts attached should any new leads come to hand.”

In October 2010, a memorial for Borcovsky was unveiled in the Murchison Cemetery, also the final resting place of his parents.

The engraved stone plaque is simple but moving.

“Treasured memories … much-loved husband, father, grandfather and brother,” it reads.

“Avid traveller and artist.”

A memorial for Borcovsky is at the Murchison Cemetery.

The final etching comes from Borcovsky’s own words – taken from a message to a loved one shortly before he stepped completely out of being.

“Next stop, Kahborovsk and then Harbin – back soon to tell you all about it.”

Colin Borcovsky once told the Herald his brother was an experienced traveller, an extraordinary backpacker who had easily navigated the Middle East – Israel and Afghanistan – and India.

He said Borcovsky travelled light and often dressed like a local.

He carried little cash, getting by on an easy manner and an enthusiasm for the road, which resulted in a collection of lifelong friends across the globe.

“It’s just so unfortunate he got caught out in a place that was probably safer than [other places] he’d been,” Colin Borcovsky lamented.

“These things happen to everybody else. They don’t happen at your back door.”

Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz