Iraena Te Rama Awhina Asher (born 17 July 1979) was an

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

trainee teacher and

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

who disappeared under controversial circumstances at

Piha Piha is a coastal settlement in West Auckland, on the western coast of the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is one of the most popular beaches in the area and a major day-trip destination for Aucklanders throughout the year, and especially ...

, a West Auckland beach, on 11 October 2004.

Disappearance

Asher apparently spent time at a new boyfriend's home at Piha on 10 October 2004. At 9 pm that evening, she called the New Zealand Police using the 1-1-1 emergency telephone number, expressing fears for her safety. Although a patrol car could have been made available to attend this incident, police decided to call a taxi for Asher to pick her up. Police said later that people sometimes obtained a free ride home in a police car after making a false emergency call. A taxi was dispatched, but it went to the wrong street in

Onehunga Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill. Onehunga is ...

, on the other side of the city from Piha. Asher was later found wandering the streets by a Piha couple, Julia Woodhouse and Bobbie Carroll, who took her into their home for several hours. At 1:10 am, she left their home and was subsequently seen by others, semi-clad, walking towards the beach. She ran off before she could be approached. This was the last known sighting of her. Asher's family told police that she suffered from

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of Depression (mood), depression and periods of abnormally elevated Mood (psychology), mood that each last from days to weeks, and in ...

. In May 2005, Asher's family held a memorial service for her, telling mourners that if police had responded properly to her emergency call, she might be alive today. Her parents, Betty and Mike Asher, were said to be considering bringing a lawsuit against the New Zealand Police, on unspecified grounds. No legal proceedings were ever commenced by her parents. Mike Asher also went missing in January 2023 and was found dead of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

three days later.

Inquest

inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...

into her disappearance began on 17 July 2012. The police investigation into her disappearance found that she most likely drowned. During the inquest, the coroner criticised Woodhouse and Carroll for not calling the police themselves. The High Court subsequently found that the suggestion that their failure to call the police had contributed to Asher's death was based on speculation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asher, Iraena 2000s missing person cases 2004 in New Zealand Missing person cases in New Zealand Missing New Zealand people New Zealand female models Disappearance of Iraena Asher Deaths by drowning in New Zealand

Disappearance

Inquest

See also

References