Cyclone Gabrielle: Joseph Ahuriri’s family upset by police claims about his disappearance

The family of a Gisborne man who has been missing since Cyclone Gabrielle are upset with police claims that his disappearance was not cyclone-related.

Joseph Ahuriri’s family also said they felt he had been portrayed as a criminal by police.

Ahuriri, a 40 year-old father of eight children, has not been seen since Monday February 13, when Cyclone Gabrielle hit the North Island.

He had been visiting whanau in Hawke’s Bay that day and planned to return home to Gisborne but decided not to because of worsening weather.

He agreed with his partner Clarissa Poi that he should stay at Scenic Hotel Te Pania in Napier until the storm settled. That was the last she heard of him.

Yesterday, police said Ahuriri was now being treated as a missing person, after previously saying he was uncontactable.

Eastern District Commander Superintendent Jeanette Park said police inquiries suggested that it was unlikely that his disappearance was cyclone related, “although this cannot be fully ruled out”.

Mike Ahuriri, Joseph’s older brother, strongly disagreed with the police’s finding.

“The statement … it may not be Cyclone Gabrielle-related is bullshit,” he said.

The police statement also included details of five other people considered “uncontactable”. Of those, police said three of them were facing criminal charges, and two had skipped bail.

Although police said Joseph Ahuriri was “in addition to” this group, Mike Ahuriri said the family felt he had been grouped in with these people.

“The family all felt that [police] thought she was a criminal. Mum went nuts about it - she wasn’t happy about it.

“We know he’s not a criminal.”

He added: “He’s a loving father, a loving brother, loves his kids.”

At a press conference today, Park reiterated that police did not believe that the cyclone “was part of his disappearance”, while adding that “we can’t discount that”.

“I know for his family it’s extremely stressful and it’s a really hard time for them,” she said.

“So if anyone has any information in relation to Joseph, please come forward.”

A police spokesperson did not directly answer questions about why police believed Ahuriri’s disappearance was not linked to the devastating weather event.

It is understood that all staff at Scenic Motel Te Pania, where Ahuriri was last seen, have been interviewed by police.

Mike Ahuriri said he was arriving in Napier tomorrow to resume the search for his brother, with the assistance of friends and family. He did not know where to start, he said, but would be looking for the ute Joseph was driving.

“What gets me is where is his truck? His truck just can’t disappear like that. I can understand if it turned up in a flood somewhere, but we’ve had family and people looking everywhere and they still can’t find it.”

Gisborne woman Clarissa Poi and her partner Joseph Ahuriri, who has been missing for 15 days. Poi said she was waiting by the phone for news of her partner, a father of eight.

Speaking to the Herald last week, Clarissa Poi said she was waiting by the phone for a call or text from Joseph or police: “My heart breaks every minute that passes”.

She added: “I have to return home to our kids who are just as worried and I can’t bear to look at them and say I didn’t find daddy.”

At the press conference, Park said the number of uncontactable people after Cyclone Gabrielle had fallen from five yesterday to three.

“Our teams are lifting every rock, nothing is left unturned and we are looking to locate people and get them back to their loved ones.”

In all, Cyclone Gabrielle led to the deaths of nine people across Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti and two firefighters in Muriwai, West Auckland.