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Family of missing man Jason Cambourn make emotional plea for his return

The family of missing man Jason Cambourn are making an emotional plea while they are prevented from searching because of the level 4 lockdown. 

"Come home. Burst my bubble and come in my gate," says his sister Vanessa Sercombe.

Cambourn went missing last Monday just after the Prime Minister's announcement about the lockdown.

It is out of character as he usually talks to his family every day.

Sercombe says it is "super frustrating" not being able to search for him.

"I can't get a search party together. I can't get my friends together," she tells The Project.

Cambourn suffers from depression and he was anxious about coronavirus. He left his parents' house in Porirua on Monday morning and was going to be back there for dinner.

He came into Wellington and had a coffee and a kebab for lunch. Cambourn was last known to be at Bunnings where he used his EFTPOS card. It was chaotic, people were panic-buying. 

He hasn't been seen since and his car was found in Oriental Bay on Tuesday.

Sercombe says there was a sighting on Friday, of him sitting on a bench behind the Kilbirnie bus station.

"It gives me hope," she tells The Project.

Her family is unable to get together, and she can't hug her elderly parents.

"Even things like having my friends come to support me, I can't have that. They find that hard and I find that hard."

She worries the worst has happened.

"My worst fear is that he has taken his own life," she says.

"My heart says I don't think he would do this to us, he wouldn't leave us like this intentionally. He has to be struggling."

She describes him as loving and caring person.

"As a family we speak every day. It felt very strange last night not having him at the dinner table for a very long time," she says.

"He is an amazing brother, really soft and very caring. If he was struggling it was me he would come too."

Sercombe says her brother is resourceful - and could be surviving on his own.

"He's very intelligent - he wants to solve the world's problems. He is the sort of guy to take something and overthink it."

She says it was likely the COVID-19 lockdown had "triggered" Cambourn's depression.

"When we last talked he was very concerned about COVID-19 and the effect it was going to have. The thought of being locked down in one place could be too much."

Sercombe says the police call-line appears to be overloaded.

"The 105 line can be used to report your neighbour, who is not following the COVID-19 rules," she says.

"But it is also the place where me or anyone has to report things about Cambourn. And I do know a couple of people have said they have struggled to get through to that line."

Where to find help and support: 

Newshub.