Police undertake exploratory work at Tokoroa property

Members of Tokoroa Police are undertaking exploratory excavation work in the rear garden of a residential property in Tokoroa.

The excavation work follows a privately funded sonar search of the area where a toddler went missing more than 40 years ago. The sonar search located an area of anomaly which Police considered required further investigation.

Two year old Jefferie Hill went missing from outside his Tokoroa home on 28 September 1968. An extensive search was undertaken, including the draining of the Matarawa Creek, but no trace of him or a body was found. In 1969, a Coroner concluded that Jefferie had drowned in the creek.

Detective Sergeant Kevan Verry from Tokoroa Police says Police cases like this are never closed and Jefferie is still listed as a missing person.

"We are always open to receiving new information that may shed new light on a case and Police will always investigate new information – as we are doing in this instance.

"We felt that the report provided following the sonar search highlighted an area that warranted further investigation, hence the excavation work today."