A coroner has concluded a woman missing in Turangi for more than nine years is dead and probably died either the day she went missing or the day after.
But the cause of her death remains a mystery.
Palmerston North woman June Marion Sowerby has not been seen for more than nine years after she left a relative's Turangi home on Christmas Eve.
She never returned to the timeshare unit where she was staying and extensive searches have failed to find any sign of her either on land or in the nearby Tongariro River.
In his written findings, Coroner Dr Wallace Bain said having considered all the evidence relating to her disappearance, he concluded that Miss Sowerby was dead and died on either December 24 or December 25, 2003.