Woman Who Called Police Vanishes After They Send A Taxi Instead Of A Patrol Car

Iraena Te Rama Awhina Asher was a 25-year-old model and trainee teacher from Auckland, New Zealand. One of her three sisters, Angelique Asher, described her as an outgoing and sensitive woman.

At 9 PM on October 11, 2004, Iraena called 111, the emergency number in New Zealand. She felt unsafe and pressured for sex. Instead of dispatching a patrol car, the operator sent a taxi. Presumably, there was a misunderstanding because it was sent to Paihia Road in Onehunga when Iraena was 35 km away in Piha, West Auckland.

Shortly after the 111 call, Julia Woodhouse and her son Henry spotted Iraena walking along a Piha road in the rain. She was wearing only underwear, a sweatshirt, and Ugg boots.

According to Julia, Iraena had run away from her new boyfriend’s house nearby. She thought the young woman might have been coming off LSD and decided to bring her home.

Julia and her partner Bobbie Carroll comforted her, let her take a shower, and offered her a place to sleep. The plan was to take her home in the morning. But at 1:10 AM, Iraena fled the house. Henry called the police as Bobbie tried to catch up to her. Unfortunately, she found only the dressing gown Iraena had been wearing in the middle of the road.

Just before 2 AM, Zachary Nixon and Simone Ross were walking their dog when they noticed a naked woman under a streetlight. It was Iraena, and she seemed to be talking to the light. The couple watched as she got on her knees and kissed the ground before she walked down the road toward the beach. Because it was so dark, Zachary and Simone lost sight of her.

The couple did not call the police even though Simone admitted it was a “weird” situation, explaining that she “didn’t think she looked as if she really needed help.” They thought Iraena might have been skinny dipping, as it was common in the area.

Iraena’s behavior could be explained by her bipolar disorder diagnosis. According to her father, Michael Asher, she would run away when having a manic episode,

“It was frightening. When she had an episode the first thing she did was become anti-us. Like we were the bad guys.”

The young woman’s family says she had been acting like her normal self the day before she vanished, and Angelique explained that her sister was very responsible with her medication,

“She really hated being ill. She knew when she had started to get ill and took responsibility for it.”

During an inquest in 2012, Psychiatrist Dr. Wayne Miles testified that Iraena had been functioning well up to her disappearance. He wasn’t sure whether the woman’s behavior was caused by a manic episode or a chemical.

Iraena had recently broken up with her boyfriend of four years. Julian Dyson believes she was manic as she was not the type to go swimming at night alone.

Her family appears to agree and deny the possibility of suicide. Detective Senior Sergeant John Sutton, who had led the investigation, believes Iraena most likely wandered into the surf and drowned at Piha Beach.

Authorities have since acknowledged the troubling way in which Iraena’s call to the police was handled. Betty and Michael believe their daughter might still be alive if a patrol car had been sent to check on her.

In 2019, 65-year-old Betty was diagnosed with a tumor. She died within three weeks and was buried with a picture of her missing daughter.

Last year, tragedy struck the Asher family again when they had to report 73-year-old Michael missing on December 30. His body was found three days later in an area of bush in Glen Eden, West Auckland. Described as an “absolute rock” for the family after Beth died, he is believed to have had a heart attack.

Given that the family is still struggling with the lack of closure in Iraena’s disappearance nineteen years ago, they are relieved to have found his body. Angelique remarked,

“With the very many years of having such deep grief for our sister Iraena, his heart was so broken from that. It seems like a horrid alignment for him to die of a heart event.

And of course losing our mum three years ago — that heart of his was just so broken.”