Tokoroa man Shane Edwards missing for a year, brother says his family are ‘still looking’

The brother of a Tokoroa man missing for a year says his family is still “hopeful” the father-of-four can be found.

Shane Edwards “vanished” from his Tokoroa home on May 14, 2022. He was living with his partner Alvina Smith and three of their four children, who were all at home when he was last seen.

Shane is Māori and has affiliations to Te Arawa, Tūwharetoa and Ngāi Tahu. He attended Rotorua Boys’ High School and had spent extensive time in Rotorua as a kapa haka performer.

Pre-Covid, he also worked in forestry in Tokoroa and Rotorua. Shane has connections in Rotorua, Tokoroa, Tūrangi, Taupō and Christchurch.

Michael Edwards, Shane Edwards' older brother, flew in from Australia last year to help with the search. Photo / Mead Norton

Dr Michael Edwards said he believed his brother’s disappearance was “suspicious” given it had been a year.

“He’s missed all his children’s birthday parties, special events, Christmas, now it’s the anniversary.”

Michael said he was “confident” in his belief that Shane’s disappearance was not mental health-related or that he got Covid-19 or got lost.

“Our family is still hopeful we can find Shane and we still appreciate that the public provided [the] information that they’ve done over the past year to try and bring that one step closer.”

Michael said there had been no communication from Shane, however, he still had faith and trust in the police and the community.

Police are still investigating the disappearance of Shane Edwards.

“We’re still looking. We can’t thank the public enough.”

Shane was wearing a brown Swanndri jersey with a tinge of green, light blue jeans, black Converse Chuck Taylor shoes and a black beanie when he disappeared.

Michael described Shane as lean with a slim build, between 1.80m and 1.85m tall. He has dark, short, spiky hair, brown eyes, olive to white-coloured skin and no piercings or tattoos.

Smith previously told the Rotorua Daily Post she and their four sons “love [Shane] and just want him home”.

Attempts to reach her by phone this week were not successful.

Detective Shaun Plant said police investigators were “keeping an open mind” about what caused Shane’s disappearance.

“Police are requesting any information from the public that may provide further leads.”

Police did not directly respond to questions asking if they were considering putting up a reward for information on Shane, if the disappearance was still being treated as a missing’s person’s case, and if they were requesting Commonwealth assistance given Shane was a dual citizen of Australia and New Zealand.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the police on 105 and reference police file number 220518/6338. Information can be provided anonymously to CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or through its website.