By SCOTT INGLIS
Two men robbed Jason Kearney just before he vanished in 1996 because they claimed he owed nearly $1000 over a cannabis venture which had failed seven years earlier.
The men called on Mr Kearney at his home in Pakuranga, in East Auckland, claiming he still owed one of them the money after their cannabis growing operation failed at a rural house south of Auckland in 1989.
They stole a small amount of cannabis from him. The attack, in which Mr Kearney was not hurt, happened some time in the two weeks before he disappeared.
The fresh details of the standover robbery of Mr Kearney have emerged as murder squad detectives painstakingly piece together his final movements before he vanished on Saturday, August 17, 1996.
Mr Kearney, a 26-year-old student who lived at home with his parents, was last seen driving away from home. His car was later found in a carpark at Cossey's Dam in the Hunua Ranges, south of Auckland.
After extensive searches in the Hunuas, police listed him as a missing person. They launched a homicide inquiry a fortnight ago after a tipoff that his death was sinister.
The man leading the inquiry, Detective Sergeant Mark Gutry, said detectives had interviewed the two alleged robbers, who are in their 20s.
They refused to tell police why Mr Kearney was targeted seven years after the unsuccessful attempt at growing cannabis.
They have not been charged.
One difficulty was that Mr Kearney is not around to verify the story.
Police know that in the week before he went missing, Mr Kearney went to class at the Manukau Institute of Technology, spent time at home in the caravan outside his parents' house and visited friends.
There was nothing odd about his movements or who he saw, except for the robbery.
About 30 associates and friends have been interviewed.
It is possible Mr Kearney was murdered over a bungled drug deal but police are not ruling anything out.
Police say they still need public help.
Police check robbery link to Kearney killing
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