Disappearance of Iraena Asher

Iraena Te Rama Awhina Asher, born 17 July 1979, was an Auckland trainee teacher and model. On 10 October 2004 she was spending time at a new boyfriend's home in Piha, a beach settlement in West Auckland. At around 9 pm that evening she called the New Zealand Police using the 111 emergency telephone number, expressing fears for her safety.

Although a patrol car could have been sent to respond to her call, police instead arranged for a taxi to collect her. Police later stated that some callers used the tactic of a false emergency call to obtain a free ride home in a police car, which was cited as a factor in the response decision. The taxi that was dispatched went to the wrong location, in Onehunga, on the opposite side of the city from Piha, meaning it never reached Asher.

Asher was subsequently found wandering the streets by a local Piha couple, Julia Woodhouse and Bobbie Carroll, who took her into their home and cared for her for several hours. At around 1:10 am on 11 October, she left their home. She was then seen by others, semi-clad, walking in the direction of the beach. When people attempted to approach her, she ran off. This was the last confirmed sighting of Iraena Asher.

Asher's family told police that she had a history of bipolar disorder. In May 2005, her family held a memorial service for her, at which they stated their belief that she might still be alive had police responded to her emergency call in a different manner. Her parents, Betty and Mike Asher, were reported at the time to be considering legal action against the New Zealand Police, though no such legal proceedings were ever commenced. Mike Asher later went missing himself in January 2023 and was found dead three days later, of a heart attack.

An inquest into Iraena Asher's disappearance opened on 17 July 2012. The police investigation presented to the inquest concluded that she had most likely drowned. During the inquest process, the coroner criticised Woodhouse and Carroll for not having called the police themselves during the hours they hosted Asher. This finding was later revisited by the High Court, which found that the suggestion their inaction had contributed to Asher's death was based on speculation rather than established fact.

Iraena Asher's body has never been found, and the exact circumstances of her death remain formally unresolved, with drowning identified as the most likely explanation following the police investigation and inquest. <parameter name="timeline">[{"date": "1979-07-17", "event": "Iraena Te Rama Awhina Asher is born."}, {"date": "2004-10-10", "event": "Asher spends time at a new boyfriend's home in Piha, West Auckland."}, {"date": "2004-10-11", "event": "Asher calls police via 111 around 9pm the previous evening expressing fears for her safety; a taxi is misdirected to Onehunga; she is later found wandering by Julia Woodhouse and Bobbie Carroll, who take her in; at 1:10am she leaves their home and is last seen semi-clad walking toward the beach before running off."}, {"date": "2005-05", "event": "Asher's family holds a memorial service, stating she might still be alive had police responded differently to her emergency call."}, {"date": "2012-07-17", "event": "An inquest into Asher's disappearance begins; the police investigation concludes she most likely drowned; the coroner criticises Woodhouse and Carroll for not calling police."}, {"date": "2023-01", "event": "Asher's father, Mike Asher, goes missing and is found dead three days later of a heart attack."}]