KEY POINTS:
A couple swept to their deaths in a flooded Northland creek may have underestimated the danger because they were unfamiliar with their surroundings.
Lavona Cherrington and her partner, Kerry Witt, started spending weekends at their property in Waikare Valley Rd, 20km from Kawakawa, only a few weeks ago.
On Tuesday evening they tried to cross the raging Waikare Creek in darkness and were apparently swept away by the force of the torrent. Locals say that the normally shallow and placid waterway can be "horrendous" after heavy rain.
A funeral service was held yesterday at Waitangi Marae for 49-year-old Cherrington.
Her body was later transported for burial near Kawakawa, as the search for her missing partner was suspended amid concerns the creek could rise again.
Police said the search for 40-year-old Witt was called off yesterday with another storm front expected to hit the country last night.
It is believed the couple were swept away while trying to reach their isolated property. Their cars were parked safely beside the creek.
Little is known about the couple because they had only been in the area for a few weeks, but Cherrington's family is well-known in Kawakawa.
One neighbour, who was among those who found Cherrington's body on Wednesday, 1.5km from where she was swept away, told the Herald on Sunday: "I didn't know the girl until I found her in the river."
Another Waikare resident, Dolores Leonard, said as newcomers the couple would not have known how treacherous the creek could be.
"The volume of water which comes down off the ranges is horrendous. When this weather is about you just sit tight. You don't make rash decisions. It was horrendous up here on Tuesday evening. And it would have been dark, there are no streetlights out here. It's as black as black."
She described the valley as "a wonderful, supportive rural community" and said the double death had hit everyone hard.
Waikare resident Sonny George said that he and several others had gone to Cherrington's family home in Kawakawa yesterday to pay their respects.
"It's only right, because it happened here."
George said everyone could only assume Witt had also been swept away, but until his body was found there would always be doubt.
He said he would never have attempted to cross the creek himself.
"It's deceptive when it's flooded. There are lots of tributaries and whirlpools and that."
