Worst part is not knowing - mum
Imagine standing in a dense forest.
Imagine calling out a name and throwing your voice, full of love, into the bush.
When no response comes back, imagine all the ‘if’ questions that will dart around your mind.
Two families have been calling out for their sons for 20 days now.
A phone call came on the first and second day of the search, but the bush has been silent since then.
Maraea Ngarona is mother to Ha¯ kopa Ngarona – the 26-year-old forklift driver who ran, with his friend Vincent Taurima, into the Tongariro National Park on August 12.
The pair had fled police after refusing to stop in their stolen car on the Desert Rd, at about 3pm.
Search and rescue teams have found clothing, campfire remains and a beanie, but not the men themselves.
Maraea said the worst part was not knowing. She has been staying with family friends in Kuratau.
‘‘This helpless awful,’’ she said.
‘‘We stay up late at night thinking about what could have happened, what circumstances feeling is there could have been.
‘‘But the facts before us tell us that they are lost in there.’’
Ha¯ kopa definitely would have contacted family by phone or Facebook if they had made it out of the bush, she said.
Ryder August, Taurima’s sister, said Vincent called his father from a cell phone on the second night.
‘‘They had a fire going,’’ she said.
‘‘My brother stated he didn’t think he was going to survive another night.
‘‘It was quite disheartening to hear.’’
Police warned family members on day five that hope was diminishing, and by day 12 it was said it would take a miracle for the men to be found alive.
On Wednesday, police met with families to update them on past searches and on the plan going forward.
‘‘We are planning to carry out searches in the area in the not-toodistant future,’’ senior sergeant Tony Jeurissen said.
Maraea said Ha¯kopa was a hardworking man and a loving uncle.
‘‘I can’t imagine the kids not having their uncle around.
‘‘I can’t imagine not having my son. He completes my family.’’