Disappointing end to search

• Published date: 24 April 2024
• Author: Doug Laing and Gary Hamilton-Irvine
• Publication title: Hastings Leader, The

Two diggers were put to work near the Esk River mouth last Monday and Tuesday to search for any sign of the Gisborne man or his white Toyota Hilux, missing since the Cyclone Gabrielle flooding on the morning of February 14 last year

But in a display of the police determination to find answers for the family, Eastern Police officer Detective Sergeant Alex Simister, who worked in the midst of the cyclone drama as it unfolded in the valley, said police are keeping an “open mind” on what happened to Ahuriri and the vehicle.

The search was sparked by evidence of a metallic field gleaned from a drone sweep with a GNS magnometer last year. However, the search — when conditions were suitable — found nothing relevant despite excavation several metres deep.

The earlier investigations had revealed a band of storm debris on the ocean floor out to sea but nothing resembling any motor vehicles.

Thus, what little is known of the missing father-of-eight’s night in Hawke’s Bay remained unchanged. He appeared to have tried to return to Gisborne on the night of February 13, found the way blocked by a slip, checked in to a motel and resumed his attempt to get home early in the morning.

The last evidence of his whereabouts is CCTV recording of a refuelling stop pre-dawn at the Waitomo station on State Highway 2 near Petane Domain, between Hawke’s Bay Airport and Bay View.

His family were at the beach site yesterday hopeful the latest search would provide some closure, and Simister said they were being kept informed throughout the ongoing inquiry.

He said the hunt, using an excavator to move “around 2000cu m of sand” found nothing relevant.

“Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate...