Missing man 'dead'

It has been more than six years since Jason Colin Sinclair's family have seen him.
Police believe the 38-year-old may have taken his own life and that his body is in dense bush near Okataina.
The Rotorua father of five has not been since April 21, 2004, and an inquest was held into his disappearance in the Rotorua Coroner's Court by Doctor Wallace Bain this week.
Investigating police officer Detective Sarah Bishop presented a comprehensive report into the inquiry into Mr Sinclair's disappearance.
Mr Sinclair had failed to turn up in court for sentencing on charges of assaulting an 8-year-old girl in February 2004. He had had a troubled upbringing and was estranged from his parents after his grandparents were left to raise him and a sister to whom he was very close, Mrs Bishop said in evidence.
While his sister, Natasha Emery, was able to work through issues of abandonment, Mr Sinclair had been left "bitter, angry and unable to cope with life".
In 1996, Mr Sinclair had entered a relationship and the couple had had five children together.
On December 9, 2003, he was arrested by Rotorua police for assaulting one of his children and failed to turn up for sentencing in February 2004. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
He had breached conditions of his bail by meeting his partner just after Christmas 2003, when she told him the relationship was at an end.
Mr Sinclair had had trouble accepting that, Mrs Bishop said.
On April 14, Mr Sinclair had jumped out of bushes, pointing a loaded rifle at his former partner outside an Edmund Rd home. A male family member had taken the rifle from Mr Sinclair and dragged him away, the court was told.
A week later Mr Sinclair had returned to the Edmund Rd address, where he told a family member he was "going to get you".
That appeared to be the last time he was seen alive, Mrs Bishop told the coroner.
Throughout the following months and years, extensive inquiries had been made with family and friends, none of whom had seen him since 2004.
Flyers with his photograph were dropped in the area where he was last seen, banks and Work and Income had been checked, and police had checked Mr Sinclair had not changed his name in recent years.
A story featured in The Daily Post and on the television programme Police Ten-7 four times, seeking information about Mr Sinclair's whereabouts.
Mrs Bishop said that by early this year it was apparent Mr Sinclair was not just avoiding police and he was declared a missing person. In March, Rotorua Search and Rescue staff searched the Okataina, Lake Rotoatua and Lake Rotongata areas for any sign of Mr Sinclair after a friend said he might once have camped there as he was affiliated to the area.
Nothing of note was found, Mrs Bishop said.
It was clear he was not just hiding, as between 1989 and 2003 Mr Sinclair had amassed several criminal convictions, showing a propensity to come to the attention of police, she said. However, since his disappearance he had not come to the attention of police and had made no contact with his sister.
Mrs Bishop told the court it appeared Mr Sinclair had been unable to cope with the rejection from his partner and had taken his own life.
"I do not believe it would be possible, if he was still alive, for him not to contact the one person who he knew loved him unconditionally, his sister Tash," she said. "I believe Jason has taken his own life and that it is likely he did so in remote and dense bush in the Okataina area."
Dr Bain, who has reserved his findings, told Mrs Emery there did not appear to be any doubt Mr Sinclair was dead.
"If he was going to contact anyone, it's clear on the evidence it would be you or the children," he told Mr Sinclair's sister. Mrs Emery nodded in agreement.