40 years since Kirsa Jensen disappeared

[Lilith7]

How the hell can it have gone by so fast, her poor family will probably never know for certain now what happened to her.



https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3009381...v2-cpwCzEl

"The 40th anniversary of what might fairly be considered the nation’s most enduring murder mystery will be marked by a small gathering of mostly retired police officers on a patch of seaspray-covered grass near Napier.

The group, probably of about ten will assemble on September 1 in memory of Kirsa Jensen, who was just 14 when she went missing while riding her horse, Commodore, along the beach 40 years ago.

Her body has never been found and the prospect of ever solving the case is diminishing, though hope is certainly not lost, especially among the small group that will gather beside the four young pōhutukawa, and small plaque that mark the site where Kirsa was last seen alive.

Retired detective inspector Ian Holyoake, 81, who headed the inquiry team when Kirsa was first reported missing, will be there. So will detective Darryl Moore, who holds the file now.

“In years gone by Kirsa’s mother Robyn would come along, but unfortunately she is not well and won’t be making it this year,” he said.

“It’s always been on my mind, and I’ve never forgotten the first of September for the past 40 years,” Holyoake said.

He believes prime suspect John Russell, who took his own life in 1992, was most likely the one who killed Kirsa.

Holyoake wasn’t sure many people would turn up at this year’s memorial.

“I wouldn’t think there’d be a big crowd. Maybe eight or ten, something like that. A lot of people who worked on this case, needless to say, have passed away now,” Holyoake said."