New Zealand - Eloi Jean Rolland, 18, french exchange student, Auckland, 07 March 2020

[bancam]

Thank you for that informative research. It does sound unusual--that many missing people from that extremely small community. Do you know what law enforcement department is in charge of this area? Are they capable of investigating these disappearances/deaths?

You’re welcome, I just find all of this to be quite curious. Waitemata Police (initially the crime squad) has been dealing with Eloi’s disappearance, and yes they are a fully equipped investigative unit and police force. Because Piha is within this policing district, all the other cases I’ve noted above presumably fall under their jurisdiction also. How well resourced these investigations are I’m not sure but they certainly conducted extensive aerial and ground searches in the initial stages, or so it’s been reported. It’s very easy to simply assume this is another depressed person who has gone off the rails, and it’s possible in each case, but the odd way these people have just vanished with no trace (and no body ever stumbled upon) doesn’t sit right with me. These are all vibrant, healthy, outgoing and skilled young people - Eloi a sailing instructor on an overseas adventure, Guoquan a few weeks off graduating with a computer science degree he’d worked hard for, Kim a qualified nurse in a stable job - not hopeless drifters down on their luck.

I’m sure the detectives have considered whether there are any common patterns or similarities with the cases/people, but nobody seems to ask hard questions anymore and the police are generally not particularly forthcoming on possible scenarios. I’m just surprised how little public and media attention this sort of thing gets now - time was, not so long ago, that these disappearances would be headline news for days on end in a small nation like NZ. Even more so when missing people are visitors to their shores.

If there is a strong suspicion by police that suicide is involved in one or all of these cases then they should say so - rules around the reporting of suicide/suspected suicide by NZ media has long since been relaxed. They don’t need to make oblique references anymore, they can be upfront about it. The Waitakere Ranges bush area and cliffs around the coast unfortunately have a reputation for being places people might go to take their own lives (but almost always a body is recovered). If it was suicide, why did Eloi think to walk all that way out there - a visitor to the country, he wouldn’t ordinarily know “suicide spots” around Auckland any better than I would know them around his hometown in France.

The lack of bodies (or even fragments of clothing or personal possessions they had on them) really makes me wonder what is going on with all of these cases and more specifically at Piha itself. These people seem to have mysteriously vanished.

And I would almost certainly rule out the possibility that any of these people chose to “vanish” themselves to start an entirely new life somewhere with a new identity - NZ is simply not the place to do this, it wouldn’t be easy without access to considerable resources and contacts.

Lots of questions, not many answers I’m afraid. Just a growing number of still missing people in the same area.

 

[TatianaBarbie]

Thank you for that additional info. I'm glad the involved PD has a full investigative unit. I always worry about people who disappear in sparsely populated locations, that there might not be adequate law enforcement resources, but thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case here. I hope resolution will be found for all of these missing people.

 

[bancam]

Fresh news today on the search for Eloi Rolland:
French teen missing in Auckland: Item of interest found, police searching bush area

Key Points:

• Police have converged on an area of bush at Karekare where a t-shirt has been discovered (last weekend) that may belong to Eloi.
• Forensic tests are being carried out on the clothing item to determine if it is linked to him.
• Search and rescue personnel are onsite scouring the area for any other items of interest.
• In light of global travel restrictions, Eloi’s family in France has made (so far unsuccessful) pleas to French police to interview them in France and to collaborate with the NZ authorities, sharing back any relevant information to NZ investigators that may assist in the search.
• Eloi told his family he was homesick and was planning to return to France earlier than first planned: “His return ticket was scheduled for late May but he was set to head back to Montpelier in Southern France, on May 21.”
• The morning of his disappearance, Eloi took some belongings with him but did not say anything to his NZ host family about his plans. (It’s not clear from the article if these were items he might use to tramp or swim or stay away for a few nights, or if they were more substantial items - which might indicate he was planning on not returning home for a while or at all).
• His family in France are increasingly concerned he may have “had a bad meeting” because if there has been an accident (or something deliberate like suicide) they feel his body would’ve been located by now.

Karekare, New Zealand - Wikipedia is slightly south of Piha, along a narrow road, but is a popular nature tourist spot due to its black sands surf beach and nearby waterfall set in the native bush.

All things - including his state of mind - considered, his disappearance definitely seems out of character.

 

[Darling136]

You've been quicker than me, thanks for bringing this update!

It looks, they are really searching for him!

 

[bancam]

 

[bancam]

Reporter Caroline Williams has more details on the t-shirt here:

Missing French teenager: T-shirt found in Auckland bush in search for Eloi Rolland

Karekare resident Dean Thompson made the discovery while assisting his neighbour with bait lines. "We came across the t-shirt hanging in a tree, which was highly unusual as it's just in the middle of nowhere basically."

Thompson didn't think much of it at the time, however, he knew about Rolland's disappearance as he had witnessed search and rescue teams in the area a few weeks earlier. "They just said to keep our eyes open, and we did."

Several days later and feeling uneasy about the discovery, he returned to the shirt and took photos to send to police. He said the shirt was a European brand, around the right size for Rolland's description and "not your typical West Auckland bogan t-shirt".

"It might be completely unrelated, we don't know."

Thompson said police had encouraged him and his neighbour to continue with the bait lines and "be extra vigilant".

"The more eyes in the bush the better. It's a huge area and it's pretty rugged."

 

[bancam]

A translated section from the French language news site “20 minutes” gives more detail on the family’s thoughts as to Eloi’s fate. It also clarifies/corrects the NZ media report that inadvertently stated he was due to return to France on May 21 - in fact, arrangements were made for Eloi’s early return home on March 21, so that’s just two weeks after his disappearance:

...The young man from Montpellier had been in New Zealand for six months on a language trip. But it seems that homesickness had caught up with him. He had decided to return to France prematurely on March 21, two months before the date originally scheduled. "We had advanced his return expressly because he had told us about his desire to return."

The fear of a bad encounter

It was his host family who warned the police, not seeing him return on the evening of March 6. He had taken some belongings and changed his Facebook cover photo, replacing it with a black screen. The young man had gone through a complicated period. "Of course, we can't ignore anything. We thought that maybe he wanted to slip away, to step back, [cousin] Ségolène continues. We thought of the worst. But his return to France was imminent, he had plans when he returned. It is not logical ".

Speaking to Stuff News, his sister Aurore explained that he was like all adolescents, sometimes plagued by moments of doubt. But that he was absolutely not suicidal. Relatives do not believe in this thesis. "The New Zealand police have put a lot of resources into finding, with dogs, master rescuers, helicopters ... It would have been discovered if it was near this road," continues Ségolène. "A month and a half after his disappearance, we tell ourselves that the most likely hypothesis is that he had a bad encounter."

Stranded in France, Eloi’s family can only wait for international flights to resume and borders to open. And the help of the French authorities.

Translated section from L’appel à l’aide de la famille d’Eloi, 18 ans, disparu en Nouvelle-Zélande

​

 

[bancam]

Body found in West Auckland could be that of missing person, police say

A police spokesman has confirmed that the death was not thought to be connected to French man Eloi Jean Rolland, 18, who is thought to be missing in the Piha area.​

 

[bancam]

Auckland mum organises search parties for missing French teen

Local community members in West Auckland have banded together today to conduct searches of the bush around Piha Road, the main road to the coast. Volunteers will regroup again on Sunday morning to continue looking for any trace of Eloi.

Meanwhile, Police search & rescue teams are in the Karekare bush area to the southern side continuing their official search activities there. Results of the forensic testing on the t-shirt found over a week ago at Karekare are still not through, but it’s somewhat telling that Police are now concentrating their efforts in this area.

It is heartwarming to see the community coming together for this, despite coronavirus lockdown restrictions. He has been missing for coming up two months now but let’s hope for positive news to come.

Updates and details of the community search can be found at FB here:
Missing ELOI JEAN Rolland

 

[bancam]

The t-shirt did not belong to Eloi:

T-shirt found in Auckland bush not missing French teen Eloi Rolland's

Local citizens resume their search efforts around Piha again this weekend:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=133800951606514&id=102391968080746

Television coverage of last weekend’s search by members of the public:

Searchers comb West Auckland bush for French exchange student Eloi Jean Rolland

Eloi has now been missing for two months, but everybody is still hoping for the best.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

How worrisome and awful for him and his family. I hope somehow he's found safe, having needed to hide out somewhere.

But that he changed his social media to a picture of blackness and his boss was very concerned about his mental state indicates to me either depression, another mental illness starting, or something was altering his state of mind.

NONE of that would be his fault or something he could know how to immediately get help for at age 18. Add to that being an exchange student with limited English... I feel for anyone going through something like this.

Is technology at the point his web searches could be determined without the cell phone itself? What kind of information might be in the Cloud?

His family needs answers. My opinion is he may have become suicidal. This can be completely out of a person's control. But I hope my opinion is wrong.

 

[Darling136]

Just thought of this boy... he is still missing

Missing ELOI JEAN Rolland

 

[Darling136]

Family has lost the hope :-(

Missing French teen Eloi Rolland: Family say they've lost hope six months after disappearance

 

[ChatteringBirds]

How sad this is. I hope his family gets answers soon.

I wonder if drones were used to search starting at his last known location.

 

[Goldilox]

Father of French teen Eloi Rolland missing in Auckland makes renewed plea on son's birthday

Father of French teen Eloi Rolland missing in Auckland makes renewed plea on son's birthday

 

[bancam]

The missing people of Piha: 25 years, six cases, no answers

Drowning, suicide and tragic accidents – all explanations given for the disappearances of six young people who vanished from the same small corner of Auckland’s west coast. But not everyone is so convinced...

On March 7, 2020, French teen Eloi Rolland went missing near Piha Beach. He became the sixth person since 1992 to have disappeared from the same small corner of West Auckland, without a trace. Each of them – attractive, lively and young – have never been found...

“Someone out here has a type. And when you put them [the missing persons’ cases] all next to each other it's an exact type. Even Eloi is very similar. Bone structure, eyes etc. The timing in between is what I want investigated. Who was possibly in jail or away during that period of time between the cases, that is a local? The clues might be sitting there, they just haven't been picked up yet”....

 

[Dre]

The missing people of Piha: 25 years, six cases, no answers

Drowning, suicide and tragic accidents – all explanations given for the disappearances of six young people who vanished from the same small corner of Auckland’s west coast. But not everyone is so convinced...

On March 7, 2020, French teen Eloi Rolland went missing near Piha Beach. He became the sixth person since 1992 to have disappeared from the same small corner of West Auckland, without a trace. Each of them – attractive, lively and young – have never been found...

“Someone out here has a type. And when you put them [the missing persons’ cases] all next to each other it's an exact type. Even Eloi is very similar. Bone structure, eyes etc. The timing in between is what I want investigated. Who was possibly in jail or away during that period of time between the cases, that is a local? The clues might be sitting there, they just haven't been picked up yet”....

Wow! What a turn this took.. so scary to think of a local serial killer there, yikes!!

 

[ChatteringBirds]

@bancam That was quite an article. And so sad, how badly their families need answers. When I saw that LW's family is offering a $200,000 reward (I think about $143,000 USD) for information, it really makes you feel for them. And the transcript from when IA called police is so angering. They couldn't spend a minute or two to really listen to her?
(LW and IA are other missing persons from Piha).
I am skeptical about the SK idea but I do understand why the idea exists. Of course I hope it's not true - but it has happened in history before.
All IMO.

 

[bancam]

@bancam That was quite an article. And so sad, how badly their families need answers. When I saw that LW's family is offering a $200,000 reward (I think about $143,000 USD) for information, it really makes you feel for them. And the transcript from when IA called police is so angering. They couldn't spend a minute or two to really listen to her?
(LW and IA are other missing persons from Piha).
I am skeptical about the SK idea but I do understand why the idea exists. Of course I hope it's not true - but it has happened in history before.
All IMO.

Harder still for Eloi’s family when they see (then teenager) Quentin Godwin has been missing from Piha since 1992 and still no final closure for his family. No thread for him here but possibly some interesting parallels:

Q is missing - Home

What happened to Q?

 

[bancam]

Outrageous if this report is true, and something so useful (and called in to Police on more than one occasion) has been ignored or missed by investigators:

Missing French teen Eloi Rolland reportedly sighted 13km from last known location