Nicholas Pike was 22 when he was killed. His body has never been found. Photo / RNZ
Twenty years after Nicholas Pike was murdered, his body has not been found and the man convicted of killing him is still trying to clear his name.
On 18 March, 2002, Nicholas Pike was led to a remote location off the Desert Road in the central North Island and killed by Stephen Hudson.
According to evidence at Hudson's trial, where he was found guilty of murder, the pair were in a car with a woman, who was let out on the side of the road.
Hudson and Pike, who was 22, drove down a side road before Hudson returned alone 10 to 15 minutes later. He said they were tending a cannabis plot. Pike was never seen again.
His parents, Greg and Evelyn, used to visit the area every year, but no longer do.
Twenty years on, they still do not know exactly what happened to their son - how he was killed or where he is buried.
They have never held a memorial service, and they have never stopped thinking about their son.
"Every day is the same. We do say quite often, 'Today's the anniversary date', but that's as far as we go with that. We probably won't do anything special," Greg said.
"I'll probably feel really sad inside," Evelyn said. "I'd know that this is the day that Nicholas was murdered, presumably, around the 18th.
"I don't think we'll be going out to dinner or doing anything such as that. Probably if we had a grave marker then we'd visit the grave, but we don't have that."
Evelyn said not finding their son's body allowed for a faint flicker of hope, even though they knew it was in vain.
"In your brain you know he must be dead, but you still wonder, well, perhaps he is out there somewhere and perhaps we've all made a mistake. There's still that doubt, that perhaps he could be alive."
"I'd agree with that," Greg said. "Time just rolls on and on, but nothing really changes. We haven't got 100 per cent closure, but I think we've got as close as we'll get at any point."
In 2009, Hudson, then aged 39, was found guilty of Pike's murder in the Wellington High Court.
He maintains his innocence and, after exhausting his appeal rights, has recently filed with the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Pike was a small player in the Palmerston North drugs world. Although an associate of Hudson, a violent offender, he was scared of him.
Hudson once put a gun to Pike's head and, according to a Supreme Court judgment that rejected Hudson's appeal against his conviction, suspected Pike was a police informant, which he was.
Greg, 69, and Evelyn, 66, wonder if this was the right call, although they acknowledge that it would have led to his trouble with the police, and Hudson, going away.
Evidence suggests Hudson also thought Pike was a liability in a drugs operation, and that Pike owed him money.
Hudson called evidence from his family, who said he was with them in Masterton at the time, rather than on the Desert Road with Pike.
Pike's parents have retired to Kawerau, in Bay of Plenty, where they spoke to RNZ.
Despite Hudson's protestation of innocence, and latest attempt to clear his name, they believe he is guilty.
They also wonder if Hudson had someone helping him who would know what happened to their son.
After so many years, they say they do not mind if prosecution is waived should someone come forward with such information, because they doubt Hudson will volunteer it.
"The only time Hudson might say anything is if he applied for parole when he's eligible, but until he admits guilt, they won't give him parole," Greg said.
"It would only be if it's to his advantage that he may say something, otherwise I don't think he would."
Police at first treated Nicholas' disappearance as a missing person case, thinking he was lying low with Hudson.
Days turned into weeks and stretched into months, but still Greg and Evelyn heard nothing.
Evelyn said there was no way her son would not have been in touch, even if he was keeping a low profile.
"Greg had cancer at the time. Nicholas knew he was having surgery at the end of that March. It was just so unlike him not to have been at home when that happened, so then I really knew something was really wrong."
Pike had a dog and would have taken it had he planned to disappear.
Greg also said there was no way his son would have gone a week without ringing Evelyn.
In May 2002, Hudson was arrested in Tauranga, where he and Pike had spent time in the months before March 2002, for other violent offending.
The police investigation into Pike's disappearance continued, but without a breakthrough until 2007, after police put up a $50,000 reward.
The woman with Hudson and Pike on Desert Road, Cindy Vrins, was approached by police and told them what she knew. Previously, she had not co-operated with investigators.
Two prisoners also came forward, saying Hudson had made admissions of guilt to them.
Hudson was charged in March 2008 and faced trial in late 2009.
The officer in charge of the case, Detective Inspector Craig Sheridan, has been involved since day one.
"A case is never closed until a body is found. Look at this case here. Although we're not out on a daily basis actively searching for Nick, from time to time information comes in and we act upon it," Sheridan.
"In this particular case, we're confident that Nick's body is at a remote location off the Desert Road, so any information around that area in particular is followed up."
Sheridan said since Hudson's trial, police had received information that resulted in them sending staff to the Desert Road area three or four times.
Officers have also followed up with Hudson.
"We've had regular attempts to engage with the convicted killer and to date that hasn't been successful," he said.
"When on the odd occasion a piece of fresh information comes in we contact Nick's family. There's been ongoing communication with Nick's family from both myself plus one or two of the team who have been involved since day one. And, of course, we've informed Nick's family of the Criminal Cases Review Commission's recent involvement."
As the commission looked at Hudson's conviction, Sheridan said he was "absolutely" confident it was sound.
"I'm fully aware of all the evidence and the strength of it. The jury convicted him of murder. All we need now is to find Nick's body."
Pike's parents spoke highly of former Detective Sergeant Dave Clifford, who Sheridan said "lived and breathed this investigation for years and years", and spoke outside the Wellington High Court in 2009, saying police would not stop trying to find Pike.
"Since day one, his aim was to bring Nick home to his family, which hasn't been achieved as yet, but there's been a hell of a lot of stuff in the investigation process that he has achieved," Sheridan said.
Not having a body was a challenge for investigators, but this case was not unique for that.
A reward was offered in the hope it would encourage people with information to come forward, he said.
"In this case, we offered a reward which generated quite a bit of action in the way that we wanted. It achieved its result. It assisted the investigation."
Although they have no grave to visit, Greg and Evelyn still have fond memories of their son - his sense of humour, his love of music, and his days playing rugby and American football.
Growing up in Palmerston North, he went to Freyberg High School.
They also think about what he would be like now, as a 42-year-old.
"I imagine the young family he probably would have," Evelyn said. "I imagine that he would have a couple of children, so we would have been grandparents.
"I'd like to have known what he would have been like as he was older and away from all of this drugs business, how he would have turned out in the end."
Hudson was jailed for a minimum of 16 years.
He is serving another sentence on top of that so is eligible for parole in 2026.
The victim spent three months in hospital with severe injuries.