Police investigating the disappearance of Joseph Ahuriri and his white Toyota Hilux at the height of Cyclone Gabrielle last year have cordoned off a Hawke’s Bay beach and brought in excavators this afternoon.
A source told Hawke’s Bay Today white wreckage had been found on the coastline, but, asked for confirmation, police communications staff would issue only a brief statement saying: “Police are making enquiries as part of an ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Joseph Ahuriri. We will issue an update when we are in a position to do so.”
Police and excavators were visible on Monday on the beach near the mouth of the Esk River, with TVNZ reporting at least five police cars at the end of North Shore Rd, Bay View.
A large area appeared to have been cordoned-off by police and officers appeared to be digging up part of the beach.
Nothing has been heard or seen of Ahuriri nor his vehicle since early on the morning, as Cyclone Gabrielle floodwaters smashed Esk Valley and other parts of Hawke’s Bay.
Ahuriri had been in Hawke’s Bay and was known to have been intending to travel back to Gisborne, with CCTV images revealing the refuelling of the vehicle at the Waitomo Fuel Stop, on State Highway 2 near Petane Domain.
Ahead of the resumption of a private search for missing father-of-eight in July last year, his aunty revealed he had undertaken his fateful drive during the peak of Cyclone Gabrielle on a mission to “flog” her expensive wheels.
After being spotted a deserted truck stop in Napier at 5.46am on February 14, 2023, the Black Power NZ gang associate then drove north on SH2, attempting to get back to his home in Gisborne in an ill-fated drive which his aunty said given the weather and road conditions he was an “idiot” to have considered.
Gisborne-based Shivaun Nepia-Te Aturangi – whose husband Eru helped spearhead a private search for their nephew – also revealed to the Herald what Ahuriri’s motivation was for what was meant to be whistle-stop return trip from Gisborne to Napier.
“I know that he went down there to flog my bloody mags,” she said.
“My daughter was selling some Pirellis for me and he asked me where they were. So, I know when we find the truck, my Pirellis are going to be on there.
“Afterwards I said, ‘Where are my tyres by the way’. That is when it came out … [my daughter said], ‘Joe grabbed those and put them on his truck’. I was like, ‘What the hell’.”
Nepia-Te Aturangi said her daughter hoped Joseph might later give her some money for the expensive wheels, but she said it would definitely not be anywhere near what they were worth.
As Cyclone Gabrielle battered Poverty Bay – and started tracking down to Hawke’s Bay on what would be a deadly wet-weather pounding – Ahuriri got in his truck and left Gisborne about 4pm on February 13.
He said he expected to be back around 2am the next day; meaning he would be leaving Napier by 11pm.
Around the time he would have originally planned to leave after the short night-time stopover in Gisborne, severe flooding was beginning beyond Esk Valley.
Given the conditions, he made a late-night booking into a motel on the outskirts of Napier for several hours before attempting to drive home.
“Knowing how that guy is, he would have tried to get through,” Nepia-Te Aturangi said.
“That idiot would definitely have tried to get through. Even my granddaughter who travelled a lot with him … she says, ‘It would have been the most epic drive nan’. And I am thinking ‘My God’.
“He would have thought, ‘I can do this. I know the roads. I can make it’. My daughter did everything to beg him to stay but he was like, ‘I will be alright Cuz, I just need to get home’.”
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