Missing woman Rowena Walker’s family ‘desperately worried for her safety’

Source: Radio New Zealand

The family of a woman who has been missing for nearly eight months are “desperately worried for her safety”, police say.

Rowena Walker was reported missing by her mother on 22 October last year.

Police earlier told RNZ they had “grave concerns” for her and were considering the possibility she may have been the victim of foul play.

In a statement on Tuesday, Detective Senior Sergeant Jo Carolan said police continued to “follow lines of enquiry” to locate the 39-year-old.

“Rowena’s last confirmed sighting was on 14 August, when she was captured on CCTV in Christchurch on Bassett Street with an associate,” Carolan said.

“We know she travelled often, and in our efforts, we have searched in several districts including Waikato, Tasman, and Canterbury. Unfortunately, we have not been able to locate Rowena.”

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

Police urged anyone with information that may assist with their inquiries to contact them.

“Rowena has not been in contact with her children since she went missing, and as her 40th birthday approaches, her family are now desperately worried for her safety.

“If you know anything, no matter how small you think it may be, it may be the piece in the puzzle we need to locate Rowena.”

‘Hugely concerning’

In an earlier interview with RNZ, Carolan said the fact Walker had been missing without any trace was “hugely concerning”.

“We’re really worried about her and have grave concerns for her safety, that she may no longer be alive is a possibility that we have to consider, but we’re exploring all the possibilities in detail,” she said.

“Rowena is a vulnerable person in the community, and we have to consider the possibility that she’s been the victim of foul play. We are keeping an open mind and exhausting all lines of inquiry, including that possibility. Rowena’s mother is caring for some of her grandchildren, and it’s really important that those kids have an answer as to where mum has gone.”

Asked if police had any persons of interest, Carolan said police were “talking to a number of people” and following every lead available.

“I won’t go into specifics of that, but it is fair to say that we’re sticking to everybody who is made known to us.”

Carolan said Walker was “reasonably transient” and was known to have family and associates all over the country.

“We don’t want to rule out any region of New Zealand, if there’s, if there’s somebody who would like to talk to us, who knows something about what has happened to her, we will speak to anybody from anywhere in the country,” she said.

Carolan said there will be someone out there who knows what happened to Walker.

“We are looking for more information, and we’re interested in hearing from anybody in the community who has anything to provide, whether they think it might not be very significant. We’d rather hear about it and make that assessment for ourselves. So we appeal to everybody in the community to come forward with any information that they have.”

She said the “best case scenario” was that Walker was alive and well.

“And for whatever reason, keeping herself to herself, and I would say to her that she’s got family and friends who are extremely worried about her and kids who miss her very, very much. And if that is the case, we would appeal to her to please, reach out to somebody.”

Police wanted to thank all members of the public who had provided information so far or had assisted in the search for Rowena.

Anyone with information that can assist in locating her is asked to contact police online at 105.police.govt.nz or call 105, referencing file number 251022/9026.

Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand