Still Missing New Zealand - Michael Zhao-Beckenridge, 11, taken by John Beckenridge, *poss. murder/suicide* Invercargill, 13 March 2015 *Coroners hearing 2023*

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Michael Zhao-Beckenridge
SCCZEN_290315SPLBECKENRIDGE_300x200.jpg

Missing Boy Presumed Victim Of An Apparent Murder-Suicide
The submerged wreck of a car linked to missing schoolboy Michael Zhao-Beckenridge and his estranged stepfather John Beckenridge has still not been recovered as police wait out wild sea conditions.
The 11-year-old boy disappeared from his Invercargill school after Mr Beckenridge picked him up on March 13.

At the time Mr Beckenridge had a parental order in place against him. Mr Barkley said officers were still working through information it has received from the public.

"They are working through a number of different inquiries," he said.

Police have carried out land searches and inquiries into where the pair might be.

Michael left James Hargest College's junior campus during a lunch break with his stepfather.

The school's principal Andrew Wood said it was "perfectly possible" for a student to leave the school unnoticed.
Read more here - http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/338374/missing-boy-police-wait-car-recovery
 
Missing boy case: Sightings reported 'across New Zealand'
9:32 AM Wednesday Jun 3, 2015

snipped
Detectives working on the mysterious disappearance of John Beckenridge and his step-son have received tip-offs from the public that the pair might be hiding out in New Zealand.

Mr Beckenridge's blue Volkswagen Touareg was found at the bottom of an 88m cliff near Curio Bay. Their bodies have not been found. Police are now treating it as a missing persons case.

Interpol is on high alert and some of Mr Beckenridge's friends believe he has faked their deaths and is hiding out in either New Zealand or abroad.

Over the past week, police have received calls from the public about possible sightings of the pair "across New Zealand". However, each sighting has been ruled out by officers who checked out the leads, Southland area commander Inspector Kelvin Lloyd said.

"Police are continuing to assess the information we currently have and looking at what further enquiry can be made," he said.
 
Oh wow, I didn't expect this at all.
 
Man entered PNG using John Beckenridge alias in weeks before stepson abducted
5:00 AM Wednesday Jun 24, 2015

snipped
New questions about the movements of John Beckenridge in the weeks before he snatched his stepson from school and disappeared have been raised after investigations by NZME News Service.

Authorities in Papua New Guinea, where Mr Beckenridge worked for several years as a helicopter pilot, say a man entered the country on a cruise ship in February using one of Mr Beckenridge's known aliases - that of 61-year-old Australian passport holder John Locke.

An official with the Immigration and Citizenship Service Authority said a Mr Locke arrived at the port of Alotau in Milne Bay Province on a ship from Brisbane on February 17.

He had been due to leave Papua New Guinea by April 19 but there was no record of him having done so. He is viewed as an overstayer and authorities will investigate further.
 
From last month:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-ti...k-at-the-biggest-stories-in-Southland-in-2015

In March, the case of a missing James Hargest College student and his stepfather baffled authorities. John Beckenridge, 64, and his 11-year-old stepson Mike Zhao-Beckenridge went missing on March 13. Later, John Beckenridge's dark-blue Volkswagen Touareg was found to have been driven off an 88m cliff near Curio Bay.

The disappearance sparked a nation-wide search, but the pair were not found despite several alleged sightings, including in Southland.
 
Very interesting case this one. Just up the road from me and people still believe they're alive. There where sightings and he had the means to get away.
 
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Beckenridge, who was living in an upmarket Queenstown estate before disappearing, was an experienced, talented and popular commercial pilot, who had a contract flying in Papua New Guinea.

He had also flown in war-torn Afghanistan and is believed to have several aliases, including John Locke, John Robert Lundh, Knut Goran Roland Lundh and John Bradford.

Pacific Helicopters PNG chief executive Mal Smith, his former boss who has been interviewed by New Zealand police, earlier told the Herald he knew Beckenridge had been having "problems getting access to his kid but we didn't know it was to that extreme".

Top Australian private investigator Col Chapman first took a look at the unusual disappearance last year.
"He has proved himself capable of acquiring alternative identities, and it isn't hard to acquire further alternative identities, so he could be living in a rented house, doing contract work, and assimilating into the local community, wherever that might be, very easily," Chapman says.

Chapman's inquiries suggest that Beckenridge has no criminal history but had investments offshore.

He also wonders what his true identity is and whether the aliases are hindering work by the authorities to find him.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11887508

How devastating for the mother!This Beckenridge character sounds like he's been delusional/paranoid for a number of years and is his name even Beckenridge? Why is he going to such lengths for a child that isn't his? I hope they're alive and Mike can escape the clutches of this deeply disturbed man. JMO
 

Five years on, still no sign of southern schoolboy and stepfather

Half a decade on, there is still no certainty around what happened next.

One year ago, police wrapped up their investigation and referred the case to the coroner. The coroner's inquiry into the pair's disappearance remains active.
 

Five years on, still no sign of southern schoolboy and stepfather

Half a decade on, there is still no certainty around what happened next.

One year ago, police wrapped up their investigation and referred the case to the coroner. The coroner's inquiry into the pair's disappearance remains active.
This article is three years old.
 

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