New Zealand

Iraena Asher inquest date set

13:01 pm on 24 June 2012

An inquest into the death of Iraena Asher is to be held late next month - almost eight years after she disappeared.

Ms Asher, a trainee teacher and model, who was 25, was last seen at Piha, on the west coast of Auckland, on 11 October, 2004.

She had called the police to say she was scared and being pressured into sex, but the police called a taxi to pick her up and sent it to the wrong address.

Ms Asher was later taken in by a Piha couple, who found her wandering the streets, but she left their home and was last seen standing naked under a streetlight.

Her disappearance prompted a major overhaul of police communication centres.

The inquest is set for three days before Coroner Peter Ryan in Auckland from 17 - 20 July.