CYF minister responds to Otis death allegations

Communication breakdowns appear to be the reason why the disappearance of a boy from a Child Youth and Family-approved camp, was not reported to police for four days.

Otis Auelua, 13, was found dead in the sea off Matauri Bay, north of the Bay of Islands, on December 15 -- four days after he disappeared from the camp run by Pacific World.

Child, Youth and Family Minister Ruth Dyson last night responded to allegations in last week's Sunday News that, 48 hours before police were finally notified, Pacific World told Child, Youth and Family that Otis Auelua had disappeared.

Ms Dyson said she had received advice from the department that Otis went missing from the Pacific World camp at Matauri Bay on Thursday, December 9.

The camp finished on Saturday and Pacific World staff returned to Auckland.

According to Pacific World, their staff visited Otis' home and told his sister that Otis was missing and had possibly been seen getting into a car.

At approximately 9.10pm, a social worker from another non-government organisation (NGO) -- not Pacific World -- rang CYF's after-hours service to pass on information that Otis had gone missing, had been seen getting into a car and was due at an appointment on Monday.

They said they had also left a message on the work phone of Otis' CYF social worker.

The social worker expected that Pacific World would have already contacted the police, as they were responsible for Otis while on camp.

The social worker decided the proper course of action was to have the matter followed up first thing on Monday morning by Otis' social worker, and took steps to ensure this happened.

On Monday, the CYF after-hours social worker entered the information on the computer recording system and left a message for Otis' CYF social worker advising them of the phone call received on Saturday night.

A Pacific World worker also left a message for the CYF social worker and their supervisor, saying Otis had gone missing and asking the social worker to contact them urgently.

The CYF supervisor responded to Pacific World's phone call promptly and asked if they had contacted the police.

When told they had not, the supervisor asked Pacific World to contact the police immediately.

The supervisor also contacted the Police, who advised that Pacific World needed to make the missing person's report as they were the last to see Otis.

The supervisor made a referral to the Youth Absconding Programme, a joint initiative between CYF and the police to manage absconding of young people in Auckland.

Ms Dyson said she was not able to make any further comment until after the coronor's hearing later in the year.

- NZPA