Name: Tupulaga (Peter) Talalei
Date of birth: 12/01/1944 (70)
Date of disappearance: 12 July 2014
Ethnicity: Samoan
Location: Hutt Valley – Bay St, Petone
Height: 175cm (5’7″)
Circumstances:
Tupulaga (Peter) Talalei went missing from his home, a boarding house in Bay St, Petone on Saturday, July 12, 2014. Earlier that evening Peter had been discharged from Hutt Hospital around 7pm.
Police believe that Peter returned home after being discharged and this was supported by residents at the boarding house. One of the residents was believed to be the last person to see Peter alive, in the boarding house kitchen at around 2am on the Sunday.
Later that morning, a nurse arrived to see Peter, but he was gone. Peters walking stick was missing as well, police were concerned that Peter may have gone out in the freezing temperatures. But cameras trained on neighbouring Jackson St, the main Rd in Petone, never show him leaving.
Another resident from the boarding house where Peter lived spoke to reporters. He stated “he spread all his clothes out on his bed, and his belongings and he was never seen again after that”. Peter had trouble with his leg. The resident continued “there was no way he could’ve walked a hundred yards”.
The Esplanade is about 250 meters from where Peter lived, and the beach a little further.
Police launched a search for Peter. They searched a 300 metre area around his home, and divers and boats searched the Hutt River and Wellington Harbour. But there was no sign of Peter.
Speaking to reporters at Stuff.co.nz, Detective Sergeant Grant Carroll said he took the Talalei file, with its witness statements, exhibits, and collected evidence with him when he moved from Hutt Valley CIB to Wellington District Crime Squad. He says “it is still an open investigation”.
Police still hope the memory of someone who has not yet come forward might be triggered by a “key — something that they might not have thought meant anything at the time”
Carroll stated, ” that they had no evidence Peter was dead, there has been no evidence to suggest its anything but a mystery, none whatsoever”.
His bank accounts remain untouched. Those involved in the case are perplexed as to how someone so immobile could simply disappear.Peter just seemed to vanish into thin air.
“It’s unusual to have a person go missing and have them one moment there and the next they are missing and there’s no trace thereafter,” Detective Sergeant Grant Carroll said.
“There has been no suggestion that he was depressed, there’s no suggestion that anyone had any ill-feeling towards him. It’s just that he was there in the early hours of the morning, and he wasn’t the next day.”
The desire to reunite Talalelei with his family was a “huge personal responsibility” that weighed heavily upon him.
There was no suspicion of any foul play, and he urged anybody with information about Talalelei to contact police.
If you remember something about peters disappearance or know anything at all, please get in touch with the police, alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers and remain anonymous. Crimestoppers 0800 555 111
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/68966328/our-missing-people–new-zealands-enduring-mysteries
New Zealand Mysteries 