KEY POINTS:
Instead of providing closure, the discovery of a man's remains in a ship compartment has fuelled his family's grief.
For 16 months, the family of Aucklander Nathan Brown wondered what had happened to the 29-year-old father of four, who was last seen fleeing fisheries officers on Onehunga wharf.
Then, on August 8, the crew of Napier-based fishing trawler Pacific Explorer opened a little-used anchor locker and, to their horror, discovered a decomposing body inside the hatch.
Forensic tests revealed the remains were those of Brown, ending the mystery of his disappearance, but leaving his family wondering how his death in the 2.5m high locker could go unnoticed.
"We've been eating and drinking and all this time he's been in that cupboard and not one of us knew," his sister Hurike said. "It's just really hard."
Brown was wanted on minor violence charges when he disappeared and likely fled the fisheries officers because he believed they were police.
He was the oldest of seven siblings and was "always there" for them and his children, his sister said.
So far, authorities have given no official cause of death, although police say it is not suspicious. The matter has been referred to the coroner, and the family have been told Brown likely died within an hour because he did not have enough air to breathe.
But Hurike, 24, is finding that explanation difficult to accept, after she and other family members went to Napier and saw the anchor locker for themselves.
Instead of the "tiny" air-hole they had been told the locker had, they observed a hole large enough to take a thick, deep-sea anchor chain, with the sky visible.
Hurike said the family were told Brown probably went into a sleep from which he never woke up, but they found it surprising others did not hear screams, particularly as the locker was directly above a freezer used to store food.
"If he knew he was locked in, he would've tried something. It's just really unbelievable," Hurike said.
She also found it troubling that the locker had not been opened for safety checks in the intervening months, or that a crew member had not noticed a stench.
However, Maritime New Zealand confirmed there were no health and safety issues resulting from body's discovery on the boat.
While Manurewa police understood Brown to be unemployed at the time of his disappearance, his family said he worked on the Pacific Explorer and was due to go to sea.
Hurike also wondered why more effort was not made to search the ship and waters at Onehunga wharf when he was reported missing soon afterwards.
Pacific Trawling, which owns the vessel, would not comment.
He said that the matter was in the hands of police, who also declined to speak.
But Detective Sergeant Tim Smith of Napier earlier told the Weekend Herald that police knew the circumstances of Brown's death and he had not been trapped in the locker.
