A coroner’s inquest has found Auckland woman Iraena Asher died from accidental drowning.
The 25-year-old student went missing in Piha in October 2004 ago after police failed to respond to her 111 calls.
She told police she did not feel safe and thought she had been drugged.
Police did not go to her aid, instead sending a taxi which never arrived.
Coroner Peter Ryan said this morning there was a “strong probability” she had gone into the sea and drowned, Fairfax reports.
He thought it was unlikely she had committed suicide, but evidence showed she was dead.
“She has not been seen or heard from in almost eight years and she didn’t have the resources to remain in hiding.”
Ms Asher’s family and friends, as well as police and people who saw her the night she disappeared gave evidence at the inquest.
Witnesses say she was acting bizarrely that night and was “dancing around naked”.
Ms Asher was bi-polar and her behaviour was believed to have deteriorated in the weeks before her disappearance.
She had recently broken up with long-term boyfriend Julian Dyson after she cheated on him.
A psychiatrist at the inquest said Ms Asher could have been drugged before she disappeared.
3 News
source: newshub archive
