Breanna Muriwai was captured with a male associate on the CCTV of a Palmerston North liquor store. Photo / NZ Police
Breanna Muriwai was captured with a male associate on the CCTV of a Palmerston North liquor store. Photo / NZ Police
Breanna Muriwai’s disappearance three months ago is plagued with unanswered questions and the detective leading the case says he thinks the two men last seen with her could provide the answers.
The 22-year-old disappeared in the early hours of August 28, after travelling from Wellington to Palmerston North to her last known location – Te Horo Beach on the Kāpiti Coast.
Police are confident Muriwai was picked up on Friday 26 by a male friend from Wellington, and the pair drove to Palmerston North, where they stayed overnight. She was last captured on CCTV at 11.15am on Saturday at a liquor store in the area.
That evening, she told her friend she wanted to return home to Paraparaumu and he agreed to drive her home. As the night went on, the pair drove and picked up a second man, who was not associated with Muriwai but knew her male acquaintance, before driving south to Kimberly Reserve near Levin.
The next stop was in Ōtaki where Muriwai’s friend withdrew $250 from her account.
They then met a third person at Hyde Park, on the corner of State Highway 1 and Te Horo Beach Rd, before heading to Te Horo Beach Rd where they parked on the beach access.
It’s reported Muriwai “ran off” down the beach into the darkness and has not been seen since. Her phone has not polled, her accounts are untouched and there has been no activity on her social media.
Police are continuing to appeal to the public for any information relating to missing person Breanna Muriwai. Photo / Supplied
Detective Senior Sergeant David Thompson told the Herald there is no indication drugs were involved in Muriwai’s disappearance, and he believes the two men who were with Muriwai last have answers that could move the investigation forward.
“They’re very important to this investigation and their knowledge of what occurred on the beach – they are key in that aspect but I’m not willing to go into detail,” he said.
“There are specific things we’re not willing to put into the public domain around certain aspects - the two male acquaintances will have knowledge around that and that’s where we’re heading.”
“We are speaking to those males, they are known to us and we will continue to speak with them.”
Aside from the two men talking, Thompson says there are only a few options to move the investigation forward from an unexplained disappearance.
“The key thing is finding Breanna,” he said.
“That would be the clear thing that needs to occur for us to move forward or have answers – I’m not saying that’s the only thing, there could be something else – a conversation that members of the public heard, that could change where this investigation goes.”
Tips are still coming in from the public and Thompson says now police are looking for sightings of two vehicles – a silver Peugeot on the night of August 27, or the early hours of August 28, in the area of Kimberley Reserve, Otaki Main Rd, Hyde Park, Te Horo Sea Road beach access, Peka Peka and the former Marycrest school area.
The silver Peugeot police are seeking sightings of.
The green Honda police are seeking information on.
Police also want to hear from anyone who saw a green early model Honda from the early hours of Monday, August 29, 2022.
Thompson told the Herald police have still not found the purple suitcase, which was seen with Muriwai’s water-logged phone and handbag by the beach access of Te Horo on the same day she disappeared. The suitcase was opened by a member of the public who took photographs of its contents – but by the time this information reached the police, the suitcase was removed and has not been seen since.
Police are looking for a purple suitcase. Photo / NZ Police
For her family, not knowing what happened to her is becoming unbearable. Thompson said the chances of Muriwai walking in the door are now “incredibly remote” and her family are struggling to come to terms with it.
“They need Breanna returned to the whānau before they can start to carry on with what they need to do – they’re in limbo, that’s the word used quite often, in this middle ground of coming to terms with her disappearance.”
He says her family are now trying to “come to terms” with the reality that Breanna is unlikely to come home.
“They have to come to terms with hearing it, although they’ve been thinking it but hearing it and accepting it is a completely different story.”
