Piha is no doubt a magical place in New Zealand. But it is also the place where three women have mysteriously disappeared and the place of a Maori Legend.
In 2004, Iraena Asher vanished from Piha. She was last seen walking towards the beach by a couple walking their dog.
Cherie Vousden
On December 22, 2012, a 42 yr old mother Cherie Vousden vanished from the Mercer Bay loop track near the west coast beach of Piha. It is also called the Ahu Ahu Track. Friends and family of Cherie said that she visited the spot regularly and that it was her thinking spot.
Cherie was last seen by tourists walking along the track in jandals and a bottle of wine in her hand.
Cherie’s car was found unlocked in the carpark near the entrance of the track.
A search was conducted of the track and surrounding bush, and the water below using inflatable boats and the Westpac rescue helicopter, but no trace of Cherie was found.
Cherie just seemed to vanish leaving her friends and family and police baffled.
A coroners report later concluded that Cherie likely downed in the ocean, after falling from the near 300m high cliffs.
Kim Bambus
In March 2017, five years after Cherie’s disappearance a 21 yr old nurse Kim Bambus also vanished from the Ahu Ahu track. She ran the track regularly but on this day, when she was not home by 8pm, her friends and family were concerned and called the police.
Kim’s car was found in the carpark at the entrance to the track with her phone inside.
Police and search and rescue teams searched the track and surrounding bush, and the area below the Mercer Bay cliffs and shoreline around that location.The search included Surf lifesaving groups and the police Eagle helicopter.
Police stated that there was no evidence that had been gathered or obtained that suggested any foul play.
No trace of Kim was found.
In 2006, an Australian woman Fiona Hamilton fell 60m to her death from a cliff along the track.
The area is said to be guarded by the wooden statue Te Ahua o Hinerangi, whose own tragic tale is the stuff of local legend.
The Legend of Hinerangi and her Broken Heart.
In 2011, a pou showing Hinerangi , a chiefly young  Ngaoho woman named after an honoured Turehu ancetress, was unveiled at Te Ahua Point, Mercer Bay.
Hinerangi and her husband lived at Karekare, and he was lost while fishing off the rocks at Te Kawa Rimurapa at Mercer Bay. Â Hinerangi sat on the cliffs waiting for her husband’s return. She died of a broken heart and her face is said to be etched in the tall cliffs at the south end of Mercer Bay.
Former Waitakere City mayor Sir Bob Harvey said in an interview in 2017, The coincidence of the missing women and the Maori tale is “bizarre” and gives the place “a haunted past”, he said.
Harvey said he has seen the unmistakable face of a Maori woman many times on the cliff face while running the track in the early morning light.
“The whole place is steeped in tragedy and legend”.
In October 2017, a member of the public found a body washed up on Piha beach. Police did not give any further information about the discovery, and I couldn’t find any more information about it. Could the body be that of Kim Bambus?
Whether you believe that Hinerangi is still pining for her lost love and haunts the area or just believe that it is a coincidence. Three beautiful women vanished without a trace, and their families were left with no answers.
http://www.piha.co.nz/new-pou-installed-at-te-ahua-point/
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/10/body-discovered-on-piha-beach.html
New Zealand Mysteries 