John Beckenridge and his stepson, Mike Zhou-Beckenridge. Photo: SUPPLIED
A witness has told a Coroner's Court hearing she recognised 11-year-old Mike Zhou-Beckenridge and his step dad, John Beckenridge - instantly - in Bali, months after their disappearance.
Beckenridge senior and Mike went missing in March 2015 after Beckenridge picked Mike up in the middle of the school day.
His car was later found at the bottom of a cliff in the Catlins, and their bodies have never been found.
A hearing in the Coroner's Court in Christchurch is trying to determine if they are dead or alive.
A poster made by the family's private investigator, Mark Templeman, based on the witness's description of the two people she saw in Bali. Photo: Supplied / Coroner's Court
The female witness, who cannot be identified, was on holiday in Bali in June 2015 when she claimed she saw John and Mike Beckenridge.
They were on a narrow track close to the beach on the island of Gili Air.
"I was taking a walk on the island and during the course of that walk, I observed an old European man and a young Asian boy walking towards me," she said.
"It wasn't a common sight on the island to see an older man with a younger Asian-looking boy. The boy was a lot taller than the Balinese kids running around."
The witness said she had a good memory and had been told by others she had "an eagle eye".
Recent New Zealand media reports and images of the missing Beckenridges were also fresh in her mind.
"I thought straight away that I recognised them, and at the time, I was 100 percent sure that it was them. They were in my view for a good five to six seconds," she told the court.
The woman said she knew in her heart it was John and Mike Beckenridge.
Immediately after seeing the pair, the woman rang a family member back in New Zealand who contacted police.
The police then got in touch with her directly and asked that she alert the local authorities, which the woman did.
A few days later, the woman landed back in the country.
But she said she only received limited police communications, that began with an email five days after returning.
She had only been in contact with New Zealand police since via phone or email.
"It really felt like this was the police ticking a box. I was very surprised that the police didn't interview me as soon as I got back from Bali," she said.
"I have felt throughout that the police have not taken my sighting seriously."
It also took more than two years before the woman's official police statement was filed in September 2017.
The police's lawyer, Deirdre Elsmore, acknowledged the witness was able to provide a lot of detail, down to the boy wearing a maroon t-shirt that appeared to be too small.
"You said [the man's] age was 60ish maybe 63, no older than 65, Pākehā - white, no tan, head slightly forward like a very small hunch, wearing a small backpack," she said.
"The boy - big, bright, smiley face, looked exactly the same as the boy in the photos."
But Elsmore said it was surprising the woman claimed to have come within a few metres of pair but did not overhear any conversation.
"As they're talking, they're moving towards you and you're moving towards them.
"Very quickly, you've decided you recognise them. Were you not interested to hear the accents they were speaking in?" she asked. "Given that's a really distinctive part about the identity of these two - an Asian boy with a New Zealand accent, a European man with a Swedish accent."
Elsmore also pointed out inconsistencies between the witness's accounts of the length of John Beckenridge's beard and her physical description of Mike.
The witness said she was still 85 percent sure it was them today, otherwise she would not have reacted the way she had.
The hearing continues on Thursday.