Biker's body found after police search called off, inquest hears

Lance Kaiki. Photo / Supplied

A mountain biker who plunged 9m to his death was not found until the next day after police decided to call off an area search, a coroner's finding has detailed.

Lower Hutt man Lance Kaiki, 43, was reported missing by his wife Debbie after he failed to return from a ride in the Belmont Forest Park, less than 5km from his Petone home, on June 21 last year.

Mrs Kaiki had dropped her husband off at the park about 2.20pm and expected him home about 40 minutes later. She called police when he had not returned by 10pm.

His body was not discovered until 12.45pm the next day.

Police searched the area until early the next morning, but did not resume the search at daylight after reaching the conclusion he was no longer in the park.

The search resumed later the next day, but by then a cousin had found Mr Kaiki's body face-down in a stream, slumped over a metal pipe, at the bottom of steep cliff.

His bike was found a metre away, caught up in rocks and trees by the stream.

Sergeant Anthony Harmer, who led the search, said police had placed too much weight on cellphone data which suggested Mr Kaiki was no longer in the Belmont Forest Park.

He also acknowledged an immediate daytime search of the park would have found Mr Kaiki before his family did.

Coroner Garry Evans said it was unfortunate Mr Kaiki's body was not found sooner, although it was understandable the discovery was delayed due to the terrain in the area.

He said police had learned lessons arising from Mr Kaiki's disappearance and death.

Mr Kaiki was found to have died after he accidentally fell from a ridge while cycling the Mill Stream track.

His mountain bike was in mid-gear, which suggested the steep gradient of the track had caught Mr Kaiki unprepared, forcing him to stop near the top of an incline.

It was likely he put his foot out to steady himself and fell 9m to the stream below.

The cause of death was found to be blunt force trauma to Mr Kaiki's head, neck and torso.

At the time of his death, his wife Debbie said he had loved the outdoors.

"He was looking forward to this bike ride and he was so happy that day. I said to him, `will you be safe?' He said `yes' and we said our goodbyes.''