'A big stuff up'

The Ministry of Justice has acknowledged it lacked the detective nous required to find a Rotorua anaesthetic technician named Kostyrko. For six years the ministry has been holding $2500 owed to Ruth Kostyrko, after it posted her the money in 2001. The cheque was returned with a note saying "moved, no forwarding address". However, Ruth says the ministry did not try hard enough to find her. Ruth - whose name, address and unusual occupation was listed in the 2002 Rotorua electoral roll - was owed the money from a horrific crash in 1995. Until a month ago she still owned the house the money was sent to, and has lived in Rotorua and worked in the health industry. The money was discovered this week after the Daily Post began looking into the story of why Ruth had never been paid. The 1995 crash was caused by a drunk driver who was jailed and ordered to pay Ruth and her terminally ill husband Henry $4000. The crash left Ruth with a broken neck and arm, and Henry with a broken pelvis, hip, feet and ankles. At the time of the crash, Henry had cancer. He died in 2000, after the couple had lived in the same Rotoiti home for 15 years. In 2001, Ruth moved to Rotorua. Ruth says only a small amount of detective work would have been required to find her in 2001 and 2002. Ministry of Justice district collections manager Karen Wise could not explain why no one tracked Ruth down. "It might be something we will never know ... We can learn from it but we can't change it." The ministry could not use methods such as searching the police database. This was because it had to protect victims' privacy - even if it meant not giving victims money they were owed. Ms Wise did not believe the department was at fault. In August 2004, Ruth remarried and became Mrs Hedemann. The name change could have thrown the ministry off the scent, but Ruth reckons they should have found her before then. She has worked as an anaesthetic technician for decades, first at Rotorua Hospital and now at Southern Cross Hospital. "Anyone who rings for me there [Rotorua Hospital] always say where I am now. It's not like I'm hard to find." Ruth said the reparation had been a "big stuff up" from the outset. "I wonder how many other people this has happened to?" Ruth said the initial flow of reparation payments after the accident had been slow, and they stopped in November 1999. At that point, she believed she had only received $290 - the ministry believes it is closer to $1500. It is a point the two parties will now debate. Ruth says when the reparation payments stopped in November 1999, Rotorua collections staff told her it was not up to them to find the man and make him pay. She gave up the chase after they also told her she would need to hire a lawyer if she wanted to pursue it. Although thrilled to find out she was to get $2500, she said the issue had never been about the money. What bugs her now is the time she has wasted in the past eight years being angry about a lack of justice. "Silly emotional things have bugged me all this time. I wondered if [the driver] even remembered the crash when I remember it on a daily basis." If she had known the driver had paid, it would have lessened the emotional impact of the crash. Ms Wise said the Ministry of Justice was always relieved to find people who were owed reparation, especially if they were finding it hard to move on. "I really hope this puts it to rest for her." Ms Wise said she would write to Ruth and organise for a cheque to be made out to her married name.