Kiata.
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. French exchange student Elois Roland was last seen five.
Years ago today.
The then eighteen year old's disappearance has baffled authorities ever since.
Was it murder, a kidnapping, an accident?
Did he get lost in the bush, commit suicide or plan an escape?
Is he still alive? Does he want to be found?
He searches Google Maps for directions to Piha about five am that morning, he walks for nearly two hours. He turns onto Pihar Road about nine sixteen am and at nine forty eight am the battery on his phone goes dead and then nothing nothing for five years. Today on the front Page, Herald's senior journalist and A Lease wins us as we take a look back at Aloa's disappearance.
We'll also hear some clips from my conversations with Alowa's parents, Tieri and Katsman, and Bruno du Bois of a Cappella Productions, who directed a documentary series in France about Lawa's story. And Elois disappeared five years ago. Can you tell me a little bit about the investigation.
Initially, police were able to ascertain that after he left his host family's home, which was on the north Shore, he came into town and got on a train who was sent at Britomart, the big transports center in Auckland, and then he was seen again on camera in West Auckland, and from there they know that he's probably walked ten kilometers to the area of Piha Road. That's where his cell phone was tracked to and that's where it stopped.
They checked the area extensively. They went through the bush, they went door knocking, they just did everything they could in that area to find traces of him, and there was just nothing. Some point later on I found a T shirt and that was seemed off to be for exically tasted, but wasn't his.
There's been a lot of interest about his disappearance here, but also actually in France. I've spoken with the director there, Bruno do' pois of a Cappella Productions, about a documentary series he actually did, and he's told me it's gotten a lot of traction over there.
In France. We heard a lot about this story because at this time it was COVID. I discover by Facebook, and I was very concerned because it was very strange. We don't heard about the story, and I think it was a very very big injustice. And I start to work about the story. I ad meet the family and promised to help them. So try to understand what's happened to Eloid's and after we have to wait for two years before can come to New Zealand because you know,
use lound clothing border to her. To wait is a long way a long time. It was very difficult for parents that as this done, we can only work with Donet with his familiar We tried to find everything about his life in use on Brod's activity.
I think it's important to note one went missing in the early days of COVID. Hey, the week after he went missing, the WITJO actually officially declared a global pandemic.
This gives us some insight into how it was. Disappearance kind of flew under the radar a bit.
Hey, Yeah, it absolutely did. And a lot of people go missing in New Zealand and turn up later on. So there's a lot of stories that we do, a lot of press releases we get from police saying this person is missing, and then a few hours later they've been found. We knew that Ala hadn't been found, we knew that he was still missing. But also this huge, big pandemic was happening at the time, and a lot of things just became sort of secondary, I guess in
the headlines. And that must have been so frustrating for his family being on the other side of the world. They can't get here to search themselves. But the police have, you know, sure that they've just done everything they can. They've chased every lead, any tip that's come in, they've looked at and if it's you know, if it's something they can work with, they have done that. But it was such an unprecedented and unknown time in the world, and I think that the events of COVID definitely took
this over for sure. And again, I just cannot imagine someone in my family being missing on the other side of the world and not being able to physically go there and look for them myself and see the area and understand what might have been going on.
So Elua came to New Zealand to study English, and as far as his family was aware, he didn't actually have any previous mental health concerns. But what kind of behavior did he exhibit while he was here.
Look, there were no red flags for his host family. He had planned to go home earlier. He changed his flights to go home earlier in the month. I think he was due to Goham in late Main and he changed his flight to the twenty first. He told friends that he was homesick. He felt very lonely here and he was missing friends and family. He wanted to just go back to France. And he was actually really excited because he had a test coming up to get into the Air Force and he wanted to go back and
do that early and move on with that. So he was a young person with plans and he was excited about his future. But at the same time he was homesick. He was speaking about loneliness, and you know, there were some other things going on. You know, I think there had been a romantic situation that hadn't gone his way, and understandably he wasn't feeling great. But even so, his friends that he spoke to regularly didn't have any sort of huge concerns about him at the time.
So Bruno, the director I spoke to, actually said from the videos that he had seen, they thought maybe it was schizophrenia, because you start developing those symptoms around that age, But he did say that he's not a psychologist and it could have been something else like depression.
In the months leading up to his disappearance, he had apparently fallen in love with a French girl at his class. She had a boyfriend who arrived in December. His teacher said his mood changes, he started acting weird. He was sacked from two restaurant jobs. At one of them, security took a video of him ranting and raving after being thrown out, and he sends a video to his parents saying the owner of the hotel he worked at created the coronavirus and said that he wanted to quote kill him.
One thing, though, for certain, is that Elois felt alone.
All those students start to judge him has some strange guy and if you work very alone. At this time, he started to put publication on Facebook and Mastagram, very strength, very long, very provocative. He communicate about his bad feeling, his sad feeling. He was as sick, but he said a lot. He said a lot in the social network. Everybody owned him, especially for those students in us school rejected him and not him, and I think sam is something with markin of kindness. Maybe somebody can help him
and say, okay, you are sick. We can go in the hospitality or doctor and we will help you. That's what happened.
You think basically he was acting strange. He may have developed some kind of mental health condition like perhaps schizophrenia, and that kind of explains his rational behavior.
What clues did.
You find by looking through his social media accounts?
We find a lot of things and a lot of message and message. He was very alone, he feels very around and nobody else helps him. He sent a lot, a lot and a lot of message to it. And when somebody do that, obviously it's for to call help.
Yeah.
In one message he's sent by a voice message. Everybody can see how need help, but they don't. He said it. What is also we said it that he understanding himself here, He wondered himself about what's happened to him, and he said it. He said it a lot and story wat this age. But everybody reject you.
And what have police said about the investigation into Elwat's disappearance.
Look, they've said all along that it remains open that they will follow up any line of inquiry. Any you know, in cases like this, they don't stay active on a daily basis. You know, police can only do so much and then they have to sort of move to the next phase of an investigation. So while this is never closed, there's not a whole team working on it every day. They have promised though, that if there is no new information,
they'll act on it. And you know, it's a hard part of New Zealand when someone goes missing out on that west coast. And I don't think a lot of people understand that the area our bush is intense. It's not just a little forest, it's not just some trees. It's really heavy forestation, and it's a really precarious sort of you know, ground and terrain, and police can only
do so much. They employ search and rescue professionals, they use dogs, They drones now and heat seeking drones, and they've got so many ways to look for people and they employ all of those in a case like this. They've always said they won't close this case until or unless they have really good reason to. There have been other cases of people that have gone missing in that area, and after a while, the only sort of logical conclusion is that they have passed away and those cases have
been referred to the coroner. Alowa's case hasn't yet and police have assured his family and us, you know, multiple times that in any new information they will act on and it remains open and anyone with information is encouraged to come forward.
So documentary filmmaker Dupois and the Rowlands, they think that there are endless scenarios about what could have happened to Elois.
We really can't know what's happened to you. We really can not because we have no information, no clues. So I'm not sure. I think maybe my conviction is issues. He shoes to live, but probably it went bad, I think in first issues, but probably it went bad. But I'm sure he didn't suicide. And maybe what he's missing now it's a criminal investigation. But to say we have no fact investigation, but we have no fact for nothing for suicide and no fact for as the believers in a bush.
So the detective in charge of the investigation told The Herald in twenty twenty two he thought it was unlikely that La made it to the Black Sense of Piha Beach. He said, my thoughts are still the bush he's potentially tried to take a shortcut to the beach and didn't realize how far that would be and overestimated his abilities.
He said, it's pretty gnarly in there. It is possible he's just thought, well, it's like a straight line down there, so it shouldn't be a problem, and maybe he's gotten into some grief in the bush somewhere.
The police have always told me that they're keeping an open mind. Obviously, the area Alois has gone missing in or was last seen in, is that really intense bush sort of areas. There's lots of places out there where people can slip and fall and have accidents and may not necessarily be found quickly. You know, there's people out there that have never been found, unfortunately. But police are open to any any theory or any you know, they've
not shut down anything. There's no signs of foul play, there's no signs of any sort of kidnapp or you suspicious circumstance. But equally, if someone came forward with information, you know, the police have said that they will investigate that. I just can't imagine what it's like for Alowa's family to, as I said, not be able to come here and
to know and have that closure. There's just so many unknowns for them, and you know, unsurprisingly they must constantly think about different ways and means that he's gone missing, and that must be absolutely torturing for them.
Thanks for joining us, Anna, Thank you. I spoke with Elwa's.
Parents, Tierry and Katerine and they came to New Zealand in twenty twenty two where they appealed to the public for any information about their son, and they told me the five years since Elawa's disappearance just feels like five days.
We are very we feel very come breaking, very worry on the it's very difficult since this DISCIPPL every day, every night really think to a war. It's very difficult because we have not news of the war. Because of the investigations. Police are very difficult for her. It's not easy to communicate and every day, the week, every month, we try to keep the contact with New Zealand the authority.
What do you think happens?
In fact, we always it is safe and in good health. But it's very difficult. We have done everything to keep open police investigations.
The police did a lot of suctioning in the area where it was disappeared, but she didn't find anything, and we still don't know what what happened.
I have spoken with police and they say the file remains open into the disappearance of elir Eloi is still a missing person and police continue to follow up any news.
We are very greatful. We are very grateful because for us, it's very important that Ilwa stay in the in the main and the main of of the people on the world, on the earth. The most important is that the people remember one because perhaps they have a testimony. We don't know.
That's it for this episode of The Front Page. You can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage at enzid Herald dot co dot nz. The Front Page is produced by Ethan Sills and Richard Martin, who is also a sound engineer.
I'm Chelsea Daniels.
Subscribe to The Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.