Statistics

THE MISSING

 385 New Zealanders who have disappeared since 1939.

More than a third of those are unexplained. More than 100 lost at sea.

According to information obtained under the Official Information Act (OIA), Canterbury is the most common place to go missing, making up 19 per cent of the country’s total.

Nearly half of those go tramping in the region’s beautiful mountain ranges and are never heard from again.

However, more often than not, the reason behind why a person goes missing remains a mystery – a third of all cases over the past 78 years are identified as ‘unexplained’.

 BY THE NUMBERS

The following have been missing for a year or more as at May 2017:

• Auckland City: 14
• Bay of Plenty: 44
• Canterbury: 73
• Central: 21
• Counties/Manukau: 21
• Eastern: 18
• Northland: 20
• Southern: 61
• Tasman: 36
• Waikato: 22
• Waitemata: 24
• Wellington: 31

• Homicide: 24
• Search and Rescue (Aviation): 5
• Search and Rescue (Lake): 10
• Search and Rescue (Land): 13
• Search and Rescue (Mountain): 37
• Search and Rescue (River): 11
• Search and Rescue (Sea): 110
• Suspected suicide: 28
• Unexplained: 147