Without a trace: Rotorua's missing people | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Despite a missing persons website launched a year ago failing to provide any new information in Rotorua's missing person cases, the cases remain open.

Police launched the Missing Persons website last August which featured profiles of current and historic missing people, including four from the Bay of Plenty.

Those four are Francesca Martin, who disappeared from Taupo in April 2005, Robert Te Paewhenua Roberts who vanished from the Kaimai Ranges in November 2004, Lindsay John Duff who disappeared from Tauranga in 2003 and Winiata Wiremu who went missing from Whakatane in July 1991.

Phillip Kingi, who disappeared somewhere between Rotorua and Auckland, featured on the website when it was launched but was removed shortly after.

Although not all of Rotorua's missing persons cases feature on the website, police say family members who want their loved ones listed can contact them and they will add their profiles.

Detective Superintendent Rod Drew, national manager of the national criminal investigations group, said Kingi was removed from the website on August 21 last year.

He said Kingi's family no longer wanted him profiled on the website.

The most recent addition to the Bay of Plenty's missing people is Winiata Wiremu, who was added on July 26, 2011 on request of his family and next of kin.

Wiremu, born in 1945, was last seen walking home from the Poroporo marae in Whakatane on July 27, 1991.

Duff was last known to be at his home address in Tauranga on the day of his disappearance, which was June 23, 2003.

He was sighted two days later in Rotorua but there had been no further sightings of him.

Martin went missing on April 20, 2005. She was last seen in Hamilton, however her vehicle, a white Nissan Station Wagon, was found in Taupo.

Roberts was last seen on November 30, 2004.

Several witnesses saw his Fulton Hogan van drive off the lookout of the Kaimai Ranges. The van was found 250m down the bank.

There have been no sightings of Roberts since.

Extensive search and rescue searches have found items of Roberts' clothing but have failed to find Roberts.

Mr Drew said despite being up and running for a year, the website hadn't provided any new information on any of the Rotorua or Bay of Plenty missing persons cases.

Other high-profile missing person cases in Rotorua include Tewhai Brown, Mona Blades, Heidi Charles, Pat Fisk and Lance Kapua.

Mr Drew said there had not been any developments in any of those cases in the past year.

He said Rotorua police currently held 11 historic missing person cases.

He said historic cases were missing person cases which were more than a year old.

"Unsolved missing person cases remain open regardless of how long the person has been missing and remain active until such time as the person is either located or their body found."

Mr Drew said police still actively looked into those disappearances.

"However, this is often dictated by the stage of the investigation and whether there are any lines of inquiry open," he said.

"All missing person cases have a mandatory review process where the file is reviewed at three days, 14 days, 30 days, 90 days and yearly thereafter."

Mr Drew said the circumstances were different in each of the missing person cases which meant the course of action taken was distinctive to each case.

"As part of the yearly review process these cases are reviewed to ensure all aspects of the investigation have been completed, all forensic evidence obtained and whether there are any new avenues of inquiry to pursue."

He said families of missing people were offered support through the police liaison officer and also through non-government originations such as victim support.

Mr Drew said members of the public were still encouraged to come forward with any information about missing person cases.

"The public are an invaluable source of information and often the key to solving these historic cases.

"Information can be received at any police station or anonymously through our website."