A coronial hearing into the disappearance of a stepfather and son honed in on a stick that was found at the edge of a cliff in the Catlins area where they camped
Police say the stick could have been a marker directing the car into the sea instead of rocks, but a private investigator working with the family says it could have also been marking the point where the duo should get out of the car.
The sheer cliffs of the Catlins are made up of steep drops as well as angled slopes that jut out.
In the days after Mike Zhao-Beckenridge and his stepfather John Beckenridge disappeared, police found a stick planted near the sheer cliff edge.
"I noted that the stick had two sticks tied together with string to lengthen the stick," said Sergeant Dougall Henderson, who was a Detective at the time.
Tyre tracks were leading towards the stick.
"This indicated to me that the stick had been used as a marker directing someone to a particular location on the cliff edge," said Sgt Henderson.
"So that's an inference you've drawn?" asked police council Deirdre Elsmore. "Yes," Sgt Henderson replied.
John's car was found, but neither he nor Mike have been.
"Would you also accept that it's also possibly used to indicate where someone could jump from the vehicle?" asked private investigator Mark Templeman.
"I'm unsure," Sgt Henderson replied.
Police discovered debris from the vehicle during their search.
Elsmore asked Sgt Ian Martin if there was still a live search for Mike and John at the time.
Sgt Martin said: "We had an open mind, is what my opinion was. We weren't discounting anything."
But the private investigator said Mike's family believes no one was in the car when it went over the cliff.
"From when the tyre tracks were seen, were police resources deployed to cover that area above the cliff searching for the Beckenridges as them being alive?" asked Templeman.
"I'd have to re-familiarise myself," replied Sgt Martin.
The court also heard a member of the public found the first items of interest alerting police to the area. A backpack, filled with clothes with Mike's name on the labels.
