26 years ago Glen Ufton stepped into the Okuku forest to tend to his hidden cannabis plot. What followed has remained a mystery. Video / George Heard
It was mid-morning May 13, 1996, when Glen Ufton stepped out of his friend’s white Toyota Corona on the side of State Highway 73 near Kumara.
Wearing blue overalls, a T-shirt covered by a light jersey, and white gumboots, Ufton jumped the fence and walked towards the Okuku Forest between route pegs 36 and 37. Inside his green backpack was some compost, believed to be to help him tend to his cannabis plot hidden in the West Coast forest.
Ufton, a 28-year-old sickness beneficiary, appeared to be in good spirits and told his friend he was going for a day walk.
What followed remains a mystery 26 years on. Ufton never returned from the walk, leaving his beloved rottweiler, Raz, inside his van on the empty section they called home.
Like all cold cases, rumour and speculation has surrounded his disappearance. One police officer involved in the investigation earlier told media it was believed Ufton was murdered over a drug deal.
A coroner’s report released to the Herald examines his mysterious disappearance.
Glen Ufton was last seen alive at the Okuku Forest near Kumara on the South Island's West Coast on May 13, 1996. Photo / George Heard
A man and his dog
Ufton and Raz had been living in the van in the historic gold mining town of Kumara for about a year.
Donna De Jonge, who lived nearby with her husband Paul, told police she first heard about Ufton when her husband mentioned he lived in a van nearby. Then one day he turned up to have a shower.
“Glen would just turn up at the house from time to time to have a chat, a cup of tea, perhaps a shower. As time went on Glen turned up more often.”
Raz meant “everything” to Ufton, she said. Normally, when he went away Raz would stay behind and would protect the van, but he would never leave her for more than a night.
De Jonge said a sleeping bag and other items were stolen from Ufton’s van the year before his disappearance. Since then, he would leave a duffle bag of valuables with the couple when he went away. He would usually throw the bag on top of a wardrobe on their porch.
She said Ufton was “very unpredictable” in his movements.
Ufton had lived in the historic gold mining town of Kumara for about a year. Photo / George Heard.
“It really depended on how he felt and whether he had any money in the bank. When Glen was home, he would walk around the Kumara township. On benefit day he would quite often go with Paul to Greymouth or Hokitika to do his shopping. He bought very little in the way of groceries.”
Most of his food was eaten at the Theatre Royal Hotel where he had a credit system that he would pay off every fortnight after getting his benefit.
“For the rough lifestyle he lived, he was always very clean and well-spoken.”
De Jonge was aware Ufton grew cannabis for himself but said he did not deal it.
“I’m sure of that because the next season he intended to put down some large plots to sell and make enough money to enable him to start building his house.”
Another of Ufton’s friends, David Abernethy, told police Ufton was “easy going, easy to talk to once you got over the shyness”.
He was also “paranoid” whether people he spoke to were undercover police officers. He said Ufton, who was adopted, used both family names because he did not want people to know him.
Glenn Ufton could often be seen having dinner at the Theatre Royal Hotel. Photo / George Heard
Abernethy said he had a “fondness” for mild drugs and grew cannabis, poppies as well as some cactus.
Ufton once took him to his plot in the Okuku Forest. There was one 1.5m plant surrounded by mesh.
Shortly before his disappearance, Ufton told Abernethy he was sick of being accused of stealing other people’s marijuana, so was going to grow poppies instead.
Murray Tecofsky, who knew Ufton as “Gus”, also said he had been to a cannabis plot with Ufton. Ufton used green markers on the side of the road as guides.
“I think I remember 42. We cut into the bush and climbed uphill. Towards the top, the trees got a bit higher and there is a big piece of tree lying on its side and it has ‘State House’ carved into it in 6″ tall letters.”
“He told me he was going to Nelson. He gets depressed with the weather. He was going to Nelson to check the weather up there in the winter time,” she would tell police.
After dinner Ufton went to see Robert Brown for a cup of tea. Ufton said he was going to the bush the following day and expected it would take him about four hours to walk home.
“He seemed happy and didn’t appear to have any problems. He wasn’t depressed and had been talking at that time about his plans to build a house on his land.”
About 8.30am the following day Ufton went to the dairy on Seddon St and bought some lollies.
About 10am, he arrived at the De Jonge household to get a ride to the Okuku Forest.
Paul De Jonge, who had to be quick to get back to his house for a meeting, told police he drove Ufton about 6km to the forest, dropped him off and turned around to head home.
Police searched throughout the forest, but found no sign of Glenn Ufton. Photo / George Heard
De Jonge said his impression was that Ufton was only going for a day trip.
“I believe he was just going up to check on a couple of plants and come straight back to town. He’d normally just walk back: does his business or whatever he’s doing, and he’d walk up along the back ridge back to Kumara.”
Ufton appeared to be in “good spirits”, and told him he was going to do some shopping the following day with Abernethy.
When Abernethy arrived at Ufton’s van the following morning the door was open allowing Raz to get in and out, but Ufton was not home.
When he returned two days later the van door was shut and Raz was inside. Raz was snarling and would not quieten down, which was odd as the dog usually did not bark at him.
It was not until May 20, a week after he went into the bush, that Donna De Jonge reported Ufton missing to police.
An aerial search was conducted by police, followed by a ground search involving Search and Rescue (SAR) personnel. No sign of Ufton was found, nor was there any confirmed sightings of him after De Jonge dropped him off. His bank account had also not been touched since before he went missing.
Those that knew Ufton said it was “very unusual” for him to have left for an extended period of time without any money or means to access money.
On June 1, 1996, police found two cannabis plots in the forest. Both were very old and not used in the 1995/96 season. Police also found two mine shafts near where Ufton was last seen, with a white fertiliser bag nearby.
The first mine shaft was full of water, and staff were unable to reach the bottom using prods. The second mine shaft was also full of water.
Police also examined Ufton’s van and Paul and Donna De Jonge’s vehicles. They were luminol tested for blood and all returned negative results.
It did not take long for speculation to spread throughout Kumara, with fears Ufton had been killed by cannabis growers.
Former Detective Sergeant Rob Nicholl, was the head of the Greymouth CIB at the time of Ufton's disappearance. Photo / George Heard
‘Wall of silence’
Former Detective Sergeant Rob Nicholl, then head of the Greymouth CIB, says there were a few “red flags” raised regarding Ufton’s involvement with cannabis and whether he may have been killed.
Staff from Christchurch, including a detective inspector, were called to the West Coast to assist.
“We were ticking the boxes in case the evidence did come to light that he had been murdered.”
In April 1997, a backpack was found in the bush near Kumara. A police officer said it appeared an attempt had been made to disguise the red backpack by applying a camouflage green over the red.
He said the bag had been out in the weather for some time with rot setting in.
Inside the backpack were various fertilising products, plastic supermarket bags filled with potting mix and a rusted spade. The spade was unable to be fingerprinted and there was nothing to suggest the bag belonged to Ufton.
Police showed photos of the bag to Paul De Jonge who did not recognise it. He said the pack Ufton used was similar to a school satchel and was green.
Coroner Marcus Elliot said in subsequent months and years, various information was presented to police that prompted them to examine mine shafts and drain a sluice pit, however no evidence relating to Ufton was found.
“In some instances, it became apparent that some of the information provided to Police was false.”
Nicholl says an investigation like the one into Ufton’s disappearance becomes like searching for a needle in a haystack without specific information.
“As an investigator you follow the leads but if they go nowhere, or they’re not substantiated you may not necessarily be following factual leads, but rather people’s perceptions in trying to uncover what the hell went on.”
In 2008, then Tasman police district crime services manager John Winter told the Nelson Mail the investigation was a homicide inquiry.
Police are welcoming any information that might lead to some closure for Glenn Ufton’s family. Photo / George Heard
“The information has always been that he was murdered over a drug deal, but there is a wall of silence,” he said.
“We would need someone to come forward with fresh information to advance it further.”
The Herald approached Winter for comment, but did not receive a response.
Nicholl takes issue with Winter’s comments, which he says were “undoubtedly incorrect”.
“It’s not correct to say that it’s a homicide.
“It’s more than no body, there’s no evidence. It’s equally as likely that he met his death through misadventure as being killed by someone else. There’s just no evidence.”
Coroner Marcus Elliot said police considered a number of theories about what might have happened to Ufton, some of which were based on rumours within Kumara.
“These rumours included the possibility that Mr Ufton had been murdered. No reliable evidence was ever identified to give any weight to this suggestion.”
Based on the evidence, police believed Ufton was “optimistic about his future”, and was not suicidal or in a confused state when he entered the bush. The evidence also indicated he could be reckless when descending steep slopes.
Former Detective Inspector Dave Haslett concluded there was no evidence to reasonably conclude Ufton had met with foul play, adding “this possibility cannot however be categorically dismissed”.
The most likely explanation, Haslett said, was that Ufton either became lost or had an accident while in the forest and either died from his injuries or from hypothermia.
“No investigation to date has uncovered any information regarding Mr Ufton’s whereabouts. Police considered it is most likely that Mr Ufton had either become lost or injured himself in an accident. No trace of his body has been found,” Elliot said.
The coroner, who released his report in January last year, said there was no evidence about how or why he disappeared.
“It is possible to pose theories about what happened to Mr Ufton, but in the absence of any evidence, these can only amount to speculation. Without any evidence, I am not in a position to reach any conclusion about what became of him,” he said.
The Herald visited Kumara and spoke with residents about Ufton’s disappearance.
A couple who lived around the corner from Ufton recalled he was “always happy”. They would often see him at the Theatre Royal Hotel having dinner.
They too had heard many rumours over the years, including that he may have been murdered.
Another resident, who had lived in Kumara his whole life, said Ufton was a “very reclus[ive] sort of guy”.
“There were rumours that went around... but he didn’t associate with people so he had no reason to have rubbed anyone up the wrong way.”
He believes Ufton fell into a mine shaft and died.
Ufton’s adopted family declined to comment to the Herald.
Tasman police district crime services manager Detective Inspector Mark Chenery said police would welcome any information that might lead to closure for Ufton’s wider family.
