Ruby and her mother Jacqueline are among families and supporters of missing people marching to Parliament. Photo: Ruth Hill
Families and supporters of missing people, frustrated with lack of progress, marched to Parliament on Thursday to call for more police resources to bring them home.
Jacqueline, there to support the family of missing Kāpiti woman Breanna Muriwai, said it had been "nine months of torment" for them.
Breanna Muriwai. Photo: Supplied / Police
The 22-year-old nursing student was last seen on 28 August on Te Horo Beach, after earlier travelling from Wellington to Palmerston North.
"Families are having to do their own searches," Jacqueline said.
"In Breanna's case, her mother drives around with a spade in the boot of her car, in case she gets information on where to dig for her daughter's body. No mother should have to do that."
The police had CCTV footage of people using Muriwai's money card, but had told the family that without more evidence, they could not progress the case, she said.
Jacqueline's daughter Ruby, who attends school with Muriwai's younger brother, said there was "no closure" for families with a missing loved one.
Muriwai's mother, Jasmin Gray, said it had been nine months since she had seen her daughter.
"I want some transparency. We need some communication between the families and our justice system," Gray said.
She said a pattern of incompetent investigations and a lack of communication linked many of Aotearoa's cold cases.
"We've got families with cases that have been going on for 20 years. We're left in limbo from the criminals and we're left in limbo with the justice system.
"I want to hear that there's going to be some changes that are going to be made. We're tired, we're exhausted and all we want is to find our loved ones. We're left in the dark and it's not fair," Gray said.
Families and supporters of missing people, frustrated with lack of progress, marched to Parliament on Thursday. Photo: RNZ / Bill Hickman
Protesters held banners and wore t-shirts with the names and images of lost loved ones as they made their way from Civic Square to Parliament grounds.
Gray met with Justice Minister Kiri Allan alongside Anaherā Rigby, sister of Ariki Rigby, whose body was found in a burnt out car in a rural car-park in Hawke's Bay last September.
Rigby said the meeting was a start and she felt heard by the minister.
She struggled to hold back tears as she spoke of the circumstances surrounding her sister's death.
She said the discovery and investigation of her sister's murder was marked by police mistakes and she was determined that it should not happen to others.
"If they can fail us they can fail many and they have. I feel like they're not working hard enough, if it's got to be that long, and then have the family just sitting there waiting for answers. We'll get in trouble if we try to do what the police try to do but at the end of the day it's their job," Rigby said.
She started a petition calling for "competent investigations for incompetent policing" that has collected more than 2000 signatures in the last month. It was sparked by police initially mistaking her sister's burnt body for a sheep.
In a statement, police said they were aware of the frustrations behind the protest.
"At the very least, we hope it renews the conversation around what happened to Breanna and Ariki, and leads to more information being shared with investigators," a spokesperson said.