Waikato Herald
  • Waikato Herald home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Rural
  • Lifestyle
  • Lotto results

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Lifestyle
  • Lotto results

Locations

  • Hamilton
  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Matamata & Piako
  • Cambridge
  • Te Awamutu
  • Tokoroa & South Waikato
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Weather

  • Thames
  • Hamilton
  • Tokoroa
  • Taumarunui
  • 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 / Waikato News

Police renew calls for fresh leads on missing Auckland mum of four Leonie Emery who vanished in 2018

NZ Herald
28 Apr, 2025 12:07 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

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

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Vancouver mourns after a deadly festival tragedy, the Vatican prepares to elect a new Pope, and Not all principals are convinced by the government's teaching mandates.
  • Police want new information on Leonie Emery, missing since 2018.
  • Emery’s disappearance went unreported for a year due to her family’s familiarity with her frequent absences, police say.
  • Her story will be featured in Cold Case on TVNZ 1 this evening.

Police are hoping to get fresh information about a mother of four whose disappearance seven years ago went unreported to authorities for a year.

Leonie Emery went missing in 2018. She was 25 at the time.

Police believe she was a victim of foul play.

Leonie Emery went missing in 2018. She was 25 at the time. Photo / New Zealand Police
Leonie Emery went missing in 2018. She was 25 at the time. Photo / New Zealand Police
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Emery was not reported missing until a year later because “she was a free spirit who moved around regularly, so her family were used to regular periods of no contact”, Detective Senior Sergeant Rob Hunkin said.

She was last seen at a relative’s house in Papakura about late January and early February 2018. She had also been spending time in the Waikato about that time.

“Where did she go when she left and who was she with? These are some of the questions we need the public’s help with,” Hunkin said.

Leonie Emery was last seen at a family member’s house in Papakura about late January and early February 2018. She had also been spending time in the Waikato about that time.
Leonie Emery was last seen at a family member’s house in Papakura about late January and early February 2018. She had also been spending time in the Waikato about that time.

Her story will feature on an episode of Cold Case on TVNZ1 this evening.

“[It] will outline key elements of this investigation and we hope it will prompt someone to come forward with information which will help us get the answers Leonie’s whānau desperately want,” Hunkin said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“We know there are people out there with key information police need. Please tune in on Monday at 8.30pm to watch the episode. We urge anyone with information, no matter how small you might think it is, to contact police.”

Hunkin said police investigators had looked into several possible scenarios around her disappearance, “but believe it is most likely that Leonie has been the victim of foul play”.

Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Waikato News

Waikato Herald

'Not under control': Firefighters battle 300ha Tongariro National Park blaze

08 Nov 04:48 AM
Waikato Herald

'Motivated out of malice and spite': Woman's deceit leaves trail of victims

08 Nov 12:00 AM
Waikato Herald

Serious house fire in Hamilton, 'persons reported' inside

07 Nov 06:29 PM

Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Waikato News

'Not under control': Firefighters battle 300ha Tongariro National Park blaze
Waikato Herald

'Not under control': Firefighters battle 300ha Tongariro National Park blaze

Six brigades and a command unit are working to contain the forest fire.

08 Nov 04:48 AM
'Motivated out of malice and spite': Woman's deceit leaves trail of victims
Waikato Herald

'Motivated out of malice and spite': Woman's deceit leaves trail of victims

08 Nov 12:00 AM
Serious house fire in Hamilton, 'persons reported' inside
Waikato Herald

Serious house fire in Hamilton, 'persons reported' inside

07 Nov 06:29 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
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
  • Waikato Herald e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Waikato Herald
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • 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
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP