The family of Dargaville mother of eight Joanna Mai Sione-Lauaki say police told them they believe she was the victim of foul play. Video / Corey Fleming
By Mihingarangi Forbes and Annabelle Lee-Mather of RNZ
Not having the results of the post-mortem, let alone any idea who was responsible, iscompounding their grief and frustration as they face their first Christmas without the Dargaville mother-of-eight.
They feel they have been let down by the police.
“One hundred per cent,” said one of Jo’s daughters, Shana.
“We feel like they have been holding back on information … and we just think that’s unfair,” Shana said. “We were so angry with how they were treating us.”
Mata Reports has investigated the unsolved murder, and spent time with the whānau which has had to deal with rumours, innuendo and speculation.
They want to shut down the rumours, to tell Aotearoa what she meant to them, and to see justice for Jo.
“I feel completely ripped off, I used to be a man of faith and I don’t speak to him no more,” said Jo’s husband, Jared – a prize-winning dairy farm worker.
“As a father, I’m always on guard, everyone’s the enemy, everyone’s after us.”
Police declined Mata’s requests for an interview, saying they didn’t want to jeopardise the inquiry.
Jo, aged 38, went missing on August 1, after telling Jared she was going to the beach.
The next morning, her whereabouts were a mystery. But in their hearts, Jared and the children knew something must have happened to her.
“We know our Mum and she’s not a person to do something to herself,” Sharney said.
“If she’s having a bad day, she’s somebody who talks to us. So, we knew something had happened, someone had done something that night.”
Their worst fears were confirmed when a member of the public found her body on a beach she and the family didn’t usually visit, between Omamari and Aranga, north of Dargaville.
Police later announced she was the victim of foul play.
“Mum was in the wrong place at the wrong time and someone took advantage of that and took away our mum, and everyone’s sissy and aunty and cousin,” daughter Shana said.
Jared said: “She was my reason for getting out of bed, her and the kids. She brought a lot to the table, and the table’s gone.”
The night she went missing, Jo told Jared she was going to the beach while he headed to bed early. With an early start in the cow shed, Jared needed to get to sleep, so he flicked his phone on to airplane mode, something he often did.
“It became a habit just before I dozed off to flick it down,” Jared said.
In the morning, when he turned his phone back on there was a one-word text from Jo: “Help”.
He started trying to get hold of her, but with a herd of cows to milk, he initially went to work.
“I was distracted, obviously, and kept trying to make contact throughout milking ... went home for breakfast break, kept trying, and then returned back to work and just said to my boss, ‘Something’s not right’.”
With one of his daughters, he went to a beach he and Jo regularly went to, to see if they could find any sign of her.
But he instinctively knew something was seriously wrong so he went to the police station to report her missing.
That afternoon, her body was found. Several items of clothing were missing, including a white Nike T-shirt with a red tick, tracksuit pants and Adidas scuffs.
Jared said, initially, the police were good towards the family.
But as time went on, he believes they have treated him like a suspect, he said.
All the while, he’s having to cope with the loss of his wife, the woman he loved for 21 years.
“Jo was the best mum in the world, bubbly as, had a laugh that you could hear a mile away,” he said. “But for me, it was her eyes, just big, beautiful brown, sparkly eyes. And that’s what I fell in love with.”
One of Jo’s friends, Ani Ripia, recalls how the whānau’s home was always bursting with joy.
“They were always laughing, and their children always came before themselves,” Ani said.
“It was actually quite funny to see because I’d be like, ‘My goodness, so many tamariki’. But they made it look easy.”
Daughter Shana said it was Jo who would keep things running.
“She always got everything sorted,” she said. “So now it’s a different dynamic when we don’t have the main lady behind the scenes.”
If you have any information that could help, please contact police here or call 105. Please use the reference number 240803/9062. Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
- Mata is made with the help of Te Māngai Pāho and NZ on Air
- RNZ
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