KEY POINTS:
A close relative of a baby boy at the centre of a custody dispute after his mother was murdered in Whangarei last week denies the infant has been kidnapped.
The woman says Reipae Dobson handed her 10-month-old son Konway into the care of his whangai grandmother Emily O'Sullivan two days before Ms Dobson was stabbed to death by her estranged partner, Eldorado Waerehu, on December 10.
The boy was to have been returned to his mother on Sunday but when Ms O'Sullivan found Ms Dobson's house surrounded by police and learned she had been murdered, she kept Konway with her.
Konway was not in the house when his mother died, the family member said.
The infant has been with Ms O'Sullivan, 38, since then but their whereabouts are not known.
Northland police have mounted a search for the pair after custody of the boy was awarded to another family member on Saturday.
Police say the deaths of Ms Dobson, 19, and Mr Waerehu, 20, at Ms Dobson's house in Whangarei were a case of murder-suicide and have referred the matter to a coroner.
Ms Dobson had taken out a protection order against Mr Waerehu before she was killed.
Her uncle, who was her legal guardian until she turned 18, was awarded temporary custody of Konway after a Family Court hearing.
He is a brother of Jan Dobson, Ms Dobson's mother, who died three years ago.
The family member, who did not want to be named after taking legal advice, told the Herald that she and Ms O'Sullivan were both whangai mothers to Ms Dobson.
Ms O'Sullivan, Jan Dobson's former partner, was also Konway's whangai grandmother, the family member said, and had not kidnapped him.
"Reipae handed the boy over to Emily on Friday night in Whangarei after she [Reipae] called Emily and asked if she could take him until Sunday. She was to take him back to Reipae on Sunday morning.
"When she went back to the house with Konway on Sunday, the police had it cordoned off," the family member said.
The baby boy has been in Ms O'Sullivan's care since then, she said.
"Konway had a bond with Emily. She's the only one who made him smile, apart from his mother."
Ms O'Sullivan was simply defending her right to the child as his whangai grandmother.
The family member said she had no idea where Ms O'Sullivan and Konway were now, "but I know she's keeping him safe".
"We haven't heard from her. But we know she'll keep our baby safe."
Detective Dave Hamilton from the Whangarei CIB said police were appealing for Ms O'Sullivan to hand the boy over.
If she thought she had some right to the child, she needed to come forward with Konway, take a case to the Family Court and let her evidence be heard, he said.
Mr Hamilton said police were aware of whangai relationships involved in the case, adding: "We know there's a lot of emotion involved."
Ms O'Sullivan is described as Maori, 171cm tall and of medium build.
Police believe she and Konway are staying in Northland.
* Anyone with information should call Whangarei police on (09) 430-4500.
WHANGAI RELATIONSHIPS
* Literally, whangai means "to feed".
* In Northland, Maori refer to informal or customary adoptions as whangai or atawhai.
* Whangai is used throughout the Pacific, even in Hawaii, to describe the practice of bringing up someone else's child as part of your family. There is usually a related bloodline connection so the children grow up with their kin.
* The practice gets very complicated when land issues arise.
* Atawhai tends to refer to children you take into care after a tragedy or some traumatic and painful event.
