Family of missing man disgusted at police suggestion disappearance isn't cyclone related
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
The whānau of a man missing since Cyclone Gabrielle hit, are disgusted police have said his disappearance is “unlikely” to be cyclone-related.
Two weeks after Joseph Ahuriri,40, was last seen, his family were shocked at a police statement released on Monday night that appeared to cast doubt on the reason for his disappearance.
The statement said while the father of nine has had no contact with family or police since the cyclone, enquiries to date suggest it “is unlikely that his disappearance is cyclone-related”, although it couldn’t be “fully ruled out”.
Brother Mike Ahuriri was furious at the police, and said the family felt his brother was being painted out to be a criminal.
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“My mother is very unhappy,” he told Stuff and said he had not heard anything directly from police since Joseph went missing.
Instead, his family was being updated through police media releases, he said.
In the same statement, the police referenced four “un-contactable” individuals, excluding Joseph, who may have a “reluctance” to engage with them.
Of the four, three were on active charges and two were wanted for breaching their bail conditions prior to the cyclone.
Eastern District Commander Superintendent Jeanette Park said they did not have serious concerns for the welfare of the four, but said Joseph was now being treated as a “missing person”.
Mike Ahuriri believes Joseph left Napier in his white Hilux at 4am on February 14th, just hours after a wall of water decimated the Esk Valley.
He thinks the brother he describes as an awesome father, was desperate to get home to see his children, after visiting whānau in Hawkes’ Bay, and believes he took an inland road because the main highway was shut.
However, photos from searchers of the road whānau believe Joseph took, show broken bridges, smashed roads, and a deluge of debris.
And there’s been no sign of his truck, or its number plate.
On Tuesday, a police spokesperson said they had no updates on Joseph’s whereabouts.
Ahuriri said his brother wasn’t in any trouble with the law at the time he went missing, “to the best of my knowledge” and wasn’t suffering any mental health issues.
“He just wanted to get home to his children.”
Cousin Penelope Rewiri said she was “so angry” when she heard the police statement.
“He left to come home to his kids and family and didn’t make it back and there is still no word or sighting of his vehicle. That’s not like him at all.”
Rewiri said Joseph’s children were his world.
“His heart beats for them.”
Ahuriri will travel to Napier from his Christchurch home on Wednesday and intends to meet with police to find out exactly what they’ve been doing to find Joseph and what they meant by the statement.
He will then join his extended whānau in the continuing search for his brother, saying they won’t stop until they find him.
Partner Clarissa Poi continues to face an agonising wait for news. Initially she searched extensively, visiting welfare centres in Napier and scanning roads for his white Toyota Hilux but with no sightings and only a vague idea of Joseph’s route, there’s little more she can do.
“He just can’t disappear like that,” Poi says. “I don’t know what to do.”
If Ahuriri’s worst fears are realised he wants to ensure they bring his brother’s body home because it was important to the whānau to give his soul “peace”.
“We just need to get him home.”