In April 2023, a complaint was made to the New Zealand Police Commissioner claiming that the original investigation into Sara Niethe’s disappearance was flawed and should be reinvestigated.

The Commissioner’s Office appointed a senior Detective to conduct the investigation which was conducted over the following 18 months.

In October 2024, a report was released by the investigating officer which did little to reduce the anguish that Sara’s family have suffered over the past 21 years.

Questions around missing documents were raised but no explanations were given as to why this was so.

The bottom line was that the investigator found no reason to reopen the file and it appeared that it was a dead duck with no new avenues of inquiry available.

So going forward, what does this mean for the family?

If the Police have no further interest in solving the case, what chance is there of ever finding out the truth as to what happened to Sara? Both Sara and her vehicle remain missing and it would only be the finding of one or the other that would spark further interest in the case.

So how can the community help solve the case?

The bottom line is that Sara’s killer, Mark Pakenham, needed help to dispose of both Sara’s body and vehicle.  So who could possibly be this person and what would their motivation have been to help a killer?

It could be that this person played a part in Sara’s killing so that alone would be a reason to help with the disposal. Realistically speaking, this is possibly the most likely scenario which in itself is disturbing. There was no reason to kill Sara; she was a loving mother of 3 children and, although a bit of a scallywag, did not have a bad bone in her body.

The Police had access to Pakenham’s phone calls and text messages and it appears that he only had contact with one known associate on the afternoon and evening of the 30^th of March 2003 when Sara was most likely killed.

That person was interviewed on a number of occasions but could not be eliminated. Years later, he admitted to a family member that he had visited Pakenham’s property that day but gave no further explanation. The pair clearly had a close association which continued for a number of years until the person died in a suspected suicide.

By that time, they had become paranoid and believed that the Police were conducting camera surveillance on them and monitoring their movements. It even got to the stage where they removed the internal linings of their home where they suspected surveillance equipment had been hidden.

A motel across the road from their house was also damaged by them believing that cameras were installed there as well.

There was very little investigation work carried out in relation to the events leading up to Sara’s killing. We know that in the days leading up to the 30^th of March 2003, Pakenham had been communicating with Sara via text message inviting her to come out to his property.

On the morning of the 30^th, he asked her what time she might arrive and referred to needing money from her. The pair had been involved in a small cannabis growing operation at his property and Sara had been selling the crop to friends and people in her local community.

At the time he is asking about money, he was communicating with a close family member and although the messages themselves were not recovered, the inference is that maybe this person was owed money by Pakenham and was wanting payment.

In any event, the family member was interviewed years later and although confessing to helping Pakenham set up a cannabis growing operation in a garage on the property, they claimed that they pulled out and had no further involvement.

We will never know what this person’s true involvement in Sara’s disappearance was as they died in a suicide in a Phuket Hotel in 2018.

In 2024, an anonymous informant claimed that Pakenham had buried Sara and her vehicle on a farm property in the Thames District using a digger. This information was passed to the Police but has not lead to the recovery of Sara and her vehicle. The informant, who described themself as “a dying ex crim”  was wanting to clear their conscience before they died.

We can take it from this approach that there are people out in the Hauraki community who have information which could lead to this case being resolved. During the course of the private search for Sara, many people have come forward with useful information. However, that vital piece that would lead to the recovery has not been offered.

The private search team call on these people to come forward, anonymously if needed, and end Sara’s family’s trauma. All they wish for is the opportunity to acknowledge their mother, sister, daughter etc and let Sara rest in peace.