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news • business • opinion • sport Thursday, June 13, 2024
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White balloons show our community is mourning the death of a baby this week as police seek to understand what happened to 18-month-old Mustafa. At the same time, a reward has been announced in the hope it will help find three children who have been missing for two and a half years. See our stories today on Page 3.
Thanks – with advice
Judy Donovan never came out of the Pureora Forest in late March. She was the subject of an extensive search. Today, speaking exclusively to the King Country News, her daughter tells of the family’s gratitude – and makes suggestions on what might have worked better. By Paul Charman
The family of a conservation volunteer lost in the Pureora Forest almost three months ago has broken its silence to thank helpers. Their recent experience has left them with some concerns about search and rescue protocols in remote rural locations. Judy Donovan went missing on March 23 in the northern part of the forest after becoming separated from a group laying bait, part of an annual exercise. An extensive search for her in the first eight days was coordinated by Police Seach and Rescue with support from volunteers. The search for her was abandoned a little over a week later. “We are immensely grateful to police SAR personnel, local Waikato Land SAR, and the Search and Rescue teams, both human and dog, land, helicopter and canyon rescue, who travelled from many regions to help – thank you all for your generosity, time and skills,” Donovan’s daughter, Golden Bay based Nic said. She presented the family’s thoughts in letter to the King Country News – which we are publishing in full on our website at www.kingcountrynews.nz
Judy Donovan “was a fit, agile, capable and practical 79-year-old retired businesswoman and lifestyle block farmer”.
Nic said she wanted to express her thanks, and speak of the family’s experience, and would not make further comment to media.
Her concern was that present protocols around searching – including recent restrictions around shift times, could be impacting on
the potential success of searches, particularly in the period immediately after someone goes missing. That included how well local
resources were now being used. “In this era of centralised health and safety regulations, we seem to have lost the ability to tap into the valuable local knowledge and competence in our rural communities,” she said. “Meanwhile, police are under-resourced in a remote situation like this. Hopefully we will come back to a more collaborative approach sometime in the near future.” She believed had the neighbouring farmers been informed earlier and encouraged to assist their input could have made a difference – simply by taking their many vehicles to a high point, turning their lights on and sounding their horns overnight. “I believe Judy would have been embarrassed at being lost rather than worried in the first place. She tried to call a contact - but she should have called 111 - and that’s something people should be made aware of.” “Judy was a fit, agile, capable and practical 79-year-old retired businesswoman and lifestyle block farmer. She had just biked the Alps to Ocean trail (Mt Cook to Oamaru). Stories from her biking and tramping club friends attest to her physical and mental toughness, Continued on page 2
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