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Martha Jean Lambert - Missing since 1985
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Police reopen investigation into missing child Peter Boland, gone for more than 60 years
13:10, Mar 09 2019
SUPPLIED
Peter Boland went missing more than 60 years ago. His disappearance is now being investigated by police.
A six-decade-old cold case into the disappearance of a young boy has been reopened by police.
Peter Boland, 9, went missing in August 1957 while holidaying at a Waioeka Gorge farm in the Bay of Plenty region.
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He was reported missing by four men who were at the property, three of whom are still alive.
Now aged in their 80s the men say the Auckland boy went missing on the morning of August 31, 1957, while he was out looking for missing horses near the farmhouse.
READ MORE:
* Auckland man accused in Australian cold-case murder named
* Kiwi to be extradited over cold-case murder in South Australia
The four men are Ken Woods, his brother-in-law Arthur Brasting, and Peter Innes-Smith. Les Smith, a friend of Arthur's, died in 2015.
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A media report from the time said the disappearance "completely mystified the large force of searchers who came from far and near to assist in the search".
The photographic article reported Boland had travelled up part of a hill with Woods when they saw a horse.
"He [Peter] was told to return down hill and inform Innes-Smith. Although Innes-Smith was only a few hundred yards away and the track is a good one he was never seen again."
It is believed the path Boland would have taken went into a gully and across a river which was extensively searched.
The cold case featured on TVNZ's show Sensing Murder.
As part of the programme Brasting gave his account of what occurred the morning Boland went missing.
He said the four men had taken Boland to find some horses which had gone missing.
They split up but were not far apart. When they located the horses Boland was sent as a messenger to inform the other group they had found them. It was the last time he was ever seen.
Brasting said there was a thick fog in the area at the time.
They learned Boland had not met up with the other group and they thought he had gone back to the house.
"We didn't think much of it," he told Sensing Murder.
"Kids wander off to do their own thing so we took the horses back to the house."
When he was not at the house they started to search and became more concerned.
"We searched everywhere and couldn't find him anywhere," Brasting said.
The alarm was raised about 11am with 150 volunteers searching over five days.
Brasting could not recall who raised the alarm and TVNZ reports there is no police report on file for the incident.
The search was extensive.
"We had enough people to virtually hold hands and cover every inch of ground that needed to be covered," Brasting said.
As darkness fell Brasting and the others lit a fire in the hopes Boland could see it but he never came out of the bush.
Detective Sergeant Rob Lemoto confirmed police were making enquiries into Boland's disappearance but would not comment further as it was an active investigation.
FILE IMAGE
A historic cold case into the disappearance of a young boy has been reopened by police.
13:10, Mar 09 2019
SUPPLIED
Peter Boland went missing more than 60 years ago. His disappearance is now being investigated by police.
A six-decade-old cold case into the disappearance of a young boy has been reopened by police.
Peter Boland, 9, went missing in August 1957 while holidaying at a Waioeka Gorge farm in the Bay of Plenty region.
Do you know more? Email newstips@stuff.co.nz
He was reported missing by four men who were at the property, three of whom are still alive.
Now aged in their 80s the men say the Auckland boy went missing on the morning of August 31, 1957, while he was out looking for missing horses near the farmhouse.
READ MORE:
* Auckland man accused in Australian cold-case murder named
* Kiwi to be extradited over cold-case murder in South Australia
The four men are Ken Woods, his brother-in-law Arthur Brasting, and Peter Innes-Smith. Les Smith, a friend of Arthur's, died in 2015.
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertise with Stuff
A media report from the time said the disappearance "completely mystified the large force of searchers who came from far and near to assist in the search".
The photographic article reported Boland had travelled up part of a hill with Woods when they saw a horse.
"He [Peter] was told to return down hill and inform Innes-Smith. Although Innes-Smith was only a few hundred yards away and the track is a good one he was never seen again."
It is believed the path Boland would have taken went into a gully and across a river which was extensively searched.
The cold case featured on TVNZ's show Sensing Murder.
As part of the programme Brasting gave his account of what occurred the morning Boland went missing.
He said the four men had taken Boland to find some horses which had gone missing.
They split up but were not far apart. When they located the horses Boland was sent as a messenger to inform the other group they had found them. It was the last time he was ever seen.
Brasting said there was a thick fog in the area at the time.
They learned Boland had not met up with the other group and they thought he had gone back to the house.
"We didn't think much of it," he told Sensing Murder.
"Kids wander off to do their own thing so we took the horses back to the house."
When he was not at the house they started to search and became more concerned.
"We searched everywhere and couldn't find him anywhere," Brasting said.
The alarm was raised about 11am with 150 volunteers searching over five days.
Brasting could not recall who raised the alarm and TVNZ reports there is no police report on file for the incident.
The search was extensive.
"We had enough people to virtually hold hands and cover every inch of ground that needed to be covered," Brasting said.
As darkness fell Brasting and the others lit a fire in the hopes Boland could see it but he never came out of the bush.
Detective Sergeant Rob Lemoto confirmed police were making enquiries into Boland's disappearance but would not comment further as it was an active investigation.
FILE IMAGE
A historic cold case into the disappearance of a young boy has been reopened by police.
