Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Maia's vanishing act remains a mystery

By <b>MATTHEW MARTIN</b>
Rotorua Daily Post·
5 Sep, 2007 02:40 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article


The parents of a Rotorua toddler who escaped from her kindy and walked to her grandmother's house will meet with kindergarten officials this week.
Three-year-old Maia Bidois was attending her first full day at Rotorua's Selwyn Kindergarten when she took her coat and bag from the cloakroom and walked about
1km to her grandmother's house on Mallard Dr, without being noticed by her supervisors at the kindergarten.
Maia's parents, Adele Gotty and Wakaroa Bidois, said that although their daughter wanted to go back it was too soon after the event for them to decide.
"We are sceptical about kindies and Maia is still a bit clingy," Mr Bidois said. "It's hard to tell her she can't go back. We may consider going back there but not until we have seen some positive changes.
"Maia hasn't told us exactly what happened but she told my partner she just walked right out the front gate."
Central North Island Kindergarten Association general manager Jan Ballantyne said Maia's parents had been sent a letter inviting them to a meeting later this week. Mr Bidois said he would be "interested to hear" what the kindergarten had to say "but at the moment we are not happy and will take it as far as it has to go".
He was also to meet with Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell this week.
How Maia managed to walk out of Selwyn Kindergarten last week remains a mystery. Mrs Ballantyne said the inquiry into the little girl's disappearance shortly before 12.30pm last Monday was not yet complete.

"There were no boxes stacked against a fence as initially reported, so she definitely could not have escaped that way. Either she has climbed a fence or gone out the gate. But because no one saw her there is no way of knowing for sure."
Mr Bidois said he did not want any other parents going through what he had endured in the last week. He was sleeping badly and was now on stress leave from his job as a truck driver.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

10 Jul 10:57 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM

One man is charged with manslaughter and the other with being an accessory after the fact.

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

10 Jul 10:57 PM
Light truck rolls on SH36, one seriously injured

Light truck rolls on SH36, one seriously injured

10 Jul 10:45 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP