Amy Walsh talks to the Herald about search efforts after her 19 year old daughter Maia Johnston disappeared in Totara Park Upper Hutt. Video / NZ Herald
“Maia, if you’re out there and you did get in someone’s car and you now feel embarrassed because there are hundreds of people looking for you and you’re all over the news, just come home,” Amy Walsh said on Monday morning.
“My gut is saying so many things but at this point I find it really hard to believe that she would have gone to a random party or hopped in someone’s car or anything like that,” Walsh said.
“It feels really, really unlikely, but if she has just done something dumb and is somewhere, she just needs to tell us. Every single person here is hoping that’s the outcome.”
Hundreds of people, strangers and loved ones alike, have gathered in Tōtara Park, Upper Hutt, to help with the search for Johnston, with some searching throughout the night in all weather.
Police are asking anyone in Totara Park, Harcourt Park and Brown Owl to check their properties including any outbuildings such as sheds or sleep outs to see if Maia might have gone in seeking shelter.
“I am just blown away by the amount of help from the community. We just have continuously more people showing up to help.
“We have had an incredible response. We’ve had hundreds of people out every night and day all over. I did 27 hours of searching on foot from the moment she went missing until midnight last night,” Walsh said.
She was finally able to get some sleep for the first time last night, though it was “the hardest thing in the world”.
Maia Johnston, 19, was wearing this T-shirt when she disappeared from her mother's house in Akron Grove, Tōtara Park.
In an early Facebook post the evening Johnston disappeared, Walsh mentioned she was intoxicated and had gone out to walk off the alcohol.
But upon reflection yesterday, Walsh said she did not believe her daughter would have been particularly intoxicated by the time she left, and said she had told others she just needed some space.
“We thought she was just leaving the house to walk around the block. There’s a lot of us in the house. It’s been a busy, full-on day ... it made sense.”
She described her daughter as “the best”.
“She’s happy and vibrant and amazing and we had an amazing Christmas Day on Saturday as a family,” she said.
Johnston, who lives in Hamilton and is not familiar with the Hutt Valley at all, works at Seed Waikato, Walsh said, noting her workmates have been contacting her to share their support.
Maia Johnston, 19, has disappeared after going out for a walk from her mother's home in Akron Grove, Totara Park, Upper Hutt on Saturday evening.
“She loves her new job, she loves having this purpose in life. [The coworkers] are really helping her grow as a person.”
As she prepared for another day of searching, Walsh had one final message for her daughter.
“Maia if you’re out there, come home. You’re not in trouble, just come home.”
Police said they received multiple tips from the public about possible sightings of Johnston, but none were fruitful.
Walsh said confirmed sightings from CCTV show Johnston travelled from Akron Grove, past Omaha Grove, California Drive and was last seen heading past 41 Tacoma Drive.
Today a search base was set up in the Tōtara Park School hall on California Drive. Members of the public gathered this morning wearing sneakers, rain jackets and backpacks as they awaited instructions on where to search.
Walsh told those gathered there were still people in the suburb who had not heard about Johnston’s disappearance, so they were having fliers printed out to share around the area.
“Throughout the day you will see me cry, you will see me crack a lot of inappropriate jokes,” she said.
“I assure you Maia would appreciate my inappropriate jokes. That’s how I’m still standing.”
She thanked the people joining the search today.
“I just love and appreciate every single one of you,” she said.
What we know so far
Johnston was wearing a black T-shirt, black jean shorts and black and white Converse shoes. She had a green singlet underneath. The T-shirt had an image on the front of a skull-like face with a blue background in a circle around it. Johnston’s hair is a patchy blue and black mixture.
Police released a CCTV image of her walking away from Akron Grove, where she had been saying. Walsh said Johnston was carrying a vape and a flower in the image.
Police are asking anyone in the Harcourt Park and Brown Owl area, as well as those in Tōtara Park, to review their CCTV footage for sightings of Johnston.
“If you have any information or CCTV footage that could help our inquiries, please update us online now or call 105. Please use the reference number 241222/0237.”
Johnston and a friend went to nearby California Park on Saturday after a few drinks between 4.30pm and 6.30pm, and had another drink at home after returning, but Walsh believed Johnston would not have been particularly intoxicated as she had not been drinking for the two hours she was at the park.
Johnston’s friend said it was not unusual for her to take time out and go for walks, but Walsh said Johnston had never “gone missing” before.
After half an hour her friend went to check on her, and about 9pm it began raining so Walsh jumped in the car, barefoot and wearing just a T-shirt and shorts, thinking she would need to pick the girls up.
A CCTV image released tonight shows 19-year-old Maia Johnston walking down Akron Grove in Upper Hutt holding something in her left hand. Photo / NZ Police
“I found a very wet child looking for her friend and we haven’t stopped searching since.”
Walsh said she tried to report the matter to police overnight but they were more concerned with reports of a man in a yellow high-vis jacket acting suspiciously.
She said she was even questioned by a police officer while out searching because she was wearing a yellow rain jacket.
She believed it was possible her daughter had suffered an accident and was stuck somewhere, hurt.
Members of the public have been commenting on the Upper Hutt Facebook pages, saying they have been out looking for Johnston as well.
“I’ll stay out as long as I’m needed to get her home safe,” said one man.
Another person said they and their partner had been out searching with their baby daughter in the car with them.
“My son and his friend came home late last night really concerned, as they had been helping to look for her last night. I hope she is [okay]. I’ll send the boys back out today to look,” one woman wrote.
Other people have been searching along the Hutt River, under bridges, in paddocks, and throughout multiple Upper Hutt locations.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
