Kirsa Jensen (Missing Person)

14-year-old Kirsa Jensen was passionate about animals, especially horses. Living in Napier on New Zealand's North Island, there were many beautiful places to go riding. On September 1st 1983, Kirsa set off on her horse, 'Commodore', for Awatoto beach, a journey of around thirty minutes. 

Kirsa always came home by 5 pm, but on this day she failed to return. A massive search was soon underway, with several witnesses putting Kirsa in the presence of a man at an old concrete gun emplacement close to the beach. Further sightings followed, and a prime suspect soon emerged. Despite this, over 40 years since she was last seen, Kirsa remains missing.

Sources for the episode can be found here

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Kirsa Jensen

This episode deals with a crime committed against a child. Please exercise self care when choosing to listen.

The school holidays were still underway, and September 1st 1983 was the first sunny day in Napier, on New Zealand's North Island, for some time. It was also the official start of spring, and fourteen year old Kirsa Jensen was desperate to make the most of the nice weather. Due to inclement conditions the active teenager had not been able to take her horse Commodore out for a ride for a couple of days. Commodore was a beautiful, light chestnut coloured horse with white on the head and legs. Kirsa was passionate about all aspects of horse ownership and was currently training for the upcoming Hawkes Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society show. 

Kirsa made plans to go out riding that afternoon with a friend, but the friend cancelled their arrangement, deciding to go tramping (long distance walking) instead. Undeterred, Kirsa decided to go alone, something she rarely did.

At 2.45pm Kirsa fetched Commodore from the paddock adjacent to the family home on Riverbend Road and groomed him. She then said goodbye to her mother, Robyn, and headed to a pebbly beach at Awatoto, about a thirty minute ride to the east. Kirsa went down Riverbend Road then took Meeanee (mee arn ee) Road, Awatoto Road and finally Te Awa  (Teh a wa) Avenue. She arrived at the beach at around 3.30pm.

Whenever Kirsa went out riding she always came home by about 5pm, long before it got dark. On this day she was late and almost immediately Kirsa’s mum Robyn had a feeling something was wrong. At 5.30pm family members went out to look for Kirsa, tracing her route down to the beach. Kirsa’s father Dan then arrived home at 6pm and joined the search. Sources vary over the exact time but between 5.45pm and 7.00pm the police were called and Kirsa was reported missing. A short time later, Commodore was found roaming on his own near the Tutaekuri  River bridge. There was no sign of 14 year old Kirsa.

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Kirsa Mary Jensen was born on the 15th December 1968 at Dee Street hospital in Invercargill on New Zealand's South Island. Kirsa’s father Dan was an ordained Anglican priest and in 1983 her mother Robyn was in her first year as a music teacher. Kirsa had one sibling, a brother, Michael, who was a couple of years older than her.

When Kirsa was a baby the family moved to Gisborne on the east coast of the north island, where Dan was a curate. In 1975 the family moved to Opotiki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty on the north island, where Dan was made vicar of St Stephen’s Church. In 1981, Dan took on a new position as vicar of St Augustine's Church in Napier in the Hawkes Bay area of the north island. The family moved into the vicarage on Riverbend Road which is to the south of the Napier central business district.  

When Kirsa was a little girl she often suffered with ear infections. Her mother Robyn says Kirsa was miraculously healed of this affliction. Faith was an important part of family life.

Kirsa loved animals and from a young age kept many kinds of pets, including lambs and kittens. When she was a small child she would tell people that she wanted to be a cat nurse or doctor! Kirsa developed a love for horses and it wasn't long before she started asking her parents for one of her own to look after and ride. She eventually got her wish and named the horse Karis. As she got older Kirsa got another horse called Cathy, and then finally Commodore. 

As a young teen she volunteered in the local veterinary clinic and her passion for animals only grew stronger. Kirsa had two driving ambitions: to become a vet and ride for the New Zealand equestrian team. 

Kirsa was 5ft 8 of slim build with dark blonde, wavy shoulder length hair and a kind smile. Her photograph would soon be distributed far and wide and her face recognised throughout New Zealand.

On that first evening Kirsa went missing, police with spotlights were joined by Dan and Kirsa’s 16 year old brother Michael as they searched the beach. Robyn stayed back at the house, praying and hoping that at any minute Kirsa would walk back in through the front door. The police called the search off at 11.30pm and resolved to continue at first light. Robyn, together with three friends, went to the beach at midnight and kept looking. 

After a couple of hours of disturbed sleep the family woke and drove to the beach. Dozens of police officers resumed their efforts and walked shoulder to shoulder across the beach looking for clues. 

During those first few days the family were sick with worry but tried to remain hopeful. Sunday September 4th was Father’s day, which was very difficult for Dan Jensen to deal with. In those early days the family were plagued by a series of prank calls which did nothing but heap more stress and hurt on a horrendous situation. Thankfully most local people showed nothing but support and kindness towards the Jensen family.

Initially police suspected Kirsa may have had an accident and fallen from her horse. This was prompted by some of Commodore’s bridle being found on a bridge close to the beach. There was a possibility that Kirsa had hit her head, wandered off and was lying injured somewhere in the rough grassland that bordered the shore line.

The search to find Kirsa, “Operation Jensen”, was led by Detective Inspector Ian Holyoake. A physical description of Kirsa was shared widely and the public were informed that she was last seen wearing a light blue jacket, light blue sweatshirt, baggy jeans and running trainers. An appeal to the community for help soon yielded a response. Sightings began to come in from people who had seen Kirsa with Commodore at the beach that afternoon. All together there were about thirty witnesses.

At 4.20pm two surfers saw Kirsa walking along the beach and leading a horse by its reins. Twenty minutes later another witness saw an agitated horse near an old gun emplacement that stood near the mouth of the Tutaekuri River. There was no sign of its owner. The gun emplacement was an old concrete outpost which had been abandoned since the Second World War. A further witness saw the horse here at 4.45pm, again it was alone. This location became the focus of the search. 

Plenty of hoofprints were found nearby, but no footprints. Search teams located some bits of old rope tied to a piece of steel attached to the gun emplacement. Ominously, blood droplets were found on the emplacement’s concrete walls and on leaves and twigs that lay on the ground nearby. 

The semi-congealed droplets were dispersed over an area of 2 metres. They looked like they may have come from a person coughing rather than a gushing wound. The samples were sent to Wellington for forensic testing. They showed that the blood group was the same as Kirsa’s. Kirsa had a rare blood group so this was significant. This was a few years before DNA testing was available, though this will play a key role much later. Any further forensic examination of the scene was difficult due to the fact that so many searchers had passed through the area during the night, potentially contaminating evidence.

The piece of rope was believed to have been used to tie up Kirsa’s horse Commodore to the gun emplacement. As mentioned, several witnesses had reported to police that they had seen the horse alone at the spot. Commodore must have broken free and then wandered until he was found at 7.00pm. Lab tests showed that the rope had not been taken from the beach as no salt water was found on it. The rope had been brought to the scene and was the type used to tie down the cover over the open back of a utility truck or ute.

Within the first 48 hours of the search for Kirsa a motorist who had been travelling on State Highway 2 towards Hastings came forward with some vital information. When driving over the Waitagi Bridge he claimed to have witnessed something significant. At the time this witness's name was not released, but it has since been confirmed that it was a local 32 year old  orchard worker, William John Russell, who went by his middle name John.

On the afternoon of September 1st Russell said he had seen a girl (believed to be Kirsa) and a bald man talking near the old gun emplacement at the mouth of the Tutaekuri river. Nearby was parked a white Mazda utility truck or ute. Russell said something didn't seem right so he drove back in the same direction five minutes later and saw the girl was now alone but she had blood on her face. The man and the white Mazda were nowhere to be seen. 

Russell stopped his car, got out and approached the girl who told him the cuts to her face were due to having fallen from her horse. The horse had then bolted. The girl told Russell that she had told the bald man with the white Mazda about what happened and he had gone to fetch her parents. Feeling the situation was under control Russell got back in his car and carried on his way home. It goes without saying that no one contacted Kirsa’s parents to inform them of an injury to their daughter.

A separate witness said they had been riding their horse near the gun emplacement at around 4.30pm. The woman rider saw a girl being held at arms length by a European man with brown hair, roughly 5ft11 and aged 45-50. The girl had a facial injury.  Some reports indicate that despite her bloody face Kirsa was calm and showed no signs of distress. The witness saw a white one tonne truck with a flat bed and wooden sides parked nearby, possibly a Holden or Ford. The witness was about 100m away from the scene. 

I did read one report from September 5th 1983 on the paperspast National library of New Zealand site that said Kirsa had been seen standing near the road that leads into south Napier at 6pm. This sighting is not mentioned in later reports or timelines, so I don't know if it was dismissed. 

Child abduction by a non-family member is incredibly rare in New Zealand. However, with this new lead, police feared foul play was a possibility. Detective Sergeant Murray Jefferies said they were now treating the incident with suspicion and a major inquiry was underway. Investigators were very keen to speak to the man in the white Mazda who was described as being in his 50s, balding, and chubby. The Mazda was said to be white with wooden trim; probably the B1600 model. 

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Malcom Churches, the head of the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) in Wellington, arrived to provide guidance and oversight for DI Holoyoake and his team. The search area was widened from the mouth of the Tuaekuri river to Hastings, a town 20 minutes to the south of Napier.  

Teachers from Colenso high school where Kirsa was a pupil joined the search party. Jet boats and light aircraft, were brought in to aid matters, including an old Tiger moth (useful due to its open cockpit). Local landowners were asked to check their property for any signs of ground disturbance. A reward fund of $5000 was established by the local newspaper the Napier Daily Telegraph. This quickly increased to over $30,000 as local businesses from the community got involved. Meanwhile police were busy interviewing people in the vicinity with criminal records, especially ones with a history of sexual offences. 

Police organised a reconstruction of Kirsa’s last known movements along the beach. The event was filmed, and utilising a new tactic, a video of the reconstruction was provided to local video rental stores to screen to customers as they browsed.

Police released some details of vehicles seen in the vicinity of the gun emplacement on the afternoon Kirsa went missing. The first was the aforementioned white utility truck with wooden sides. The timing for this sighting was given as 4.20pm. A second utility truck which may or may not have been the same one was seen a little later leaving the location. 

At 5.20pm on said day a green Holden or Falcon utility truck with metal sides was seen driving from the beach track opposite the Waitangi fertilizer works towards Clive Street. 

Police wanted clarification about a cream colored 1961 Austin Cambridge. They knew who drove the car (it belonged to the witness John Russell) but were trying to confirm details about the exact time the car was in the area.  

The search area, which had been confined to a 7.5 mile radius of Awatoto beach, was again extended to include waterways, rivers and highways across south Napier. Dogs and specialist heat sensing equipment were used. Police boats went up and down the Tutaekuri, Tukituki and Ngaruroro rivers. nah-roo-raw-raw  The search then extended to include areas around Dartmoor, half an hour to the west, and Tutira, 45 minutes drive north of Napier.

At this stage investigators were particularly focused on finding the white ute and believed if they located it the case would be cracked. A huge drive was on to check all the white utes with wooden sides registered in Napier. A special computer was obtained to speed up this process. In a time when investigations were still largely paper based this was a cutting edge move. 

Police received a large number of calls about this matter but none of the leads ever led anywhere. 

Having exerted a lot of energy and staff power over a wide area, police admitted it was now extremely unlikely that they would find Kirsa alive. DI Ian Holyoake described the process as like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and we haven't even found the haystack yet. 

On September 15th, two weeks after Kirsa was last seen, the police announced a major development in the case. A witness came forward who had been on the Clive Bridge at 4.30pm on September 1st. This is a couple of minutes south from the gun emplacement where Kirsa was last seen. The witness saw a girl and man in a white ute heading in the direction of Clive, a small town just south of Napier. 

Shortly after this a second witness reported seeing Kirsa with the driver of a white ute near the gun emplacement. This witness said the driver appeared to be holding the girl. The description the two witnesses gave varied slightly but police believed this was the same man. One witness described him between 40 and 50 the other witness put him much younger at 20-30. He was around 6ft with a solid build. Neither witness could say if the man was bald. An identikit was drawn up of this person but was not released to the public. 

The police’s working theory was that the man with the white ute had spoken to Kirsa, and perhaps she had told him that she had fallen from the horse. He had then left the area under the guise of going to inform her parents. When he returned he had told Kirsa her parents had instructed him to bring her home. Police were sure Kirsa would not have been comfortable about doing this, as she would not have wanted to leave Commodore. Police believed the man assaulted Kirsa by striking her and knocking her unconscious. He then abducted her using the white ute. Before leaving he tethered Commodore to the gun emplacement with the piece of old rope.

The Napier police took the unusual decision to promise immunity from prosecution to any accomplice (not a principal offender) who first gave information about what had happened to Kirsa and her whereabouts. Shortly after this announcement the ground search for Kirsa was abandoned. That being said, the search for the white utility truck stepped up, with a computer printout of 25,000 similar vehicles and their owners being flown in from Wellington. 

In early October rumours began circulating that Kirsa’s body had been found. The story was that a psychic medium had given information leading to the location of the body, but the police were trying to delay this being made public. According to the rumour investigators didn't want to give any credibility to the work of psychics. 

It goes without saying that this story was a complete fabrication and had no basis in truth. At this point in the investigation police had received 118 reports from clairvoyants and mediums, all of which had led nowhere. Indeed over the years the case has received a lot of attention from psychics, something that has somewhat irked the Napier police. 

The next development had four of the sixteen detectives still working the case travel to the town of Donnevirke, an hour and a half to the south of Napier. I’m not sure what tip led them there but police did say that they feared Kirsa may have been murdered and buried on private land in the vicinity. Nothing came of this lead but shortly after, on November 9th, Napier police informed the public that samples had been taken from an address in the Napier-Hastings area. Hastings is 20 minutes south of the centre of Napier. Two scientists took one hundred samples from the home back to the lab in Wellington. Detective Sgt WR Withers refused to say if the investigation had homed in on a suspect

A couple of days later the man who lived at the address gave a short interview to the press media. He did not want to be named, but it has since come to light that it was John Russell, the witness who had said he had seen Kirsa speaking with a bald man at the gun emplacement.  

Russell lived in Whakatu, a rural community 5 miles north east of Hastings. He briefly spoke with reporters but said his solicitor had advised him not to do so. He did say his life had been turned into a nightmare. According to Russell, since Kirsa’s disappearance he had spent so much time with the police he had been forced to give up his job. His wife also spoke briefly, saying life was like living on a volcano. It appears Russell was supported by neighbours who rallied around the family.

A week later police claimed they now had a firm idea about who owned the rope used to tie Commodore at the gun emplacement. While they did not name him at the time, it is now known they were referring to John Russell. 

After this revelation concerning John Russell, DI Holyoake indicated that the focus of the investigation had changed somewhat. A lot of emphasis had been placed on finding the white ute. Holyoake now indicated the ute was less likely to be significant. He was satisfied that all the utes in Hawkes Bay on September 1st had been accounted for. 

Following this news, police chose to concentrate their searches on waterways in the Napier and Hastings area. A team of nine searched the Tukituki  River east of Havelock North just outside Hastings. Two or three small patches of land between Hastings and Napier were also focused on. Only a small number of police officers were involved in the process. 

As intensive as these searches were, they yielded no results, and following this, DI Holyoake said the chances of now finding Kirsa were very remote. Nevertheless he remained optimistic the case would be solved. One of the biggest challenges facing investigators was that although many people had come forward saying they had seen someone with a young girl, believed to be Kirsa, at the gun emplacement, all the witnesses had been at least 100m away and travelling at speed in their vehicles.  

With the festive season approaching, a special service was held at St John’s Anglican Cathedral to say prayers for Kirsa and her family. Over 300 people attended the service led by the Bishop of Waiapu, Right Reverend Peter Atkins. Kirsa’s mum, Robyn, led the choir in the song “A little love goes a long way”. Then, just days before Christmas, there was sudden talk that charges were about to be brought in the case. 

This surprising development happened after DI Holyoake took a two day trip to Wellington to talk with forensic experts from the the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). Behind the scenes, police and legal experts were said to be reviewing all the evidence. This ended up being a slow, painstaking process which took many months. A senior police officer from Christchurch, Detective Superintendent Brian James, flew in to lend his experience to the task. The suspect at the centre of all this attention was John Russell. 

At the end of the review in April 1984 it was decided that charges would not be brought. This was an incredibly disappointing result after all the hard work carried out by dozens of officers on the case. Ultimately, there were missing links in the chain of evidence and the matter could not go any further. DI Holyoake now appeared downbeat and said the chances of solving the case were slim. Police were convinced Kirsa had been murdered, they just did not have the evidence to prove this. There was a glimmer of hope. The case was not closed. Some day someone may come forward and provide a key piece of information that  would unlock the case.

On December 4th 1985  an excavation began in scrubland 3 miles south of Napier. By this time DI Holyoake had been promoted and had transferred to Christchurch. He was no longer leading the investigation but he was still kept abreast of developments. The dig came as a result of a tip given to the police by the prime suspect in the case, John Russell. Russell had seemingly confessed to his involvement in Kirsa’s disappearance. He claimed he knew the location where Kirsa was buried.

An area roughly the size of a large living room was dug to the depth of 1 metre. A metal detector was used as Kirsa was believed to have been wearing a wrist watch when she vanished. Russell himself took police to the spot and pointed it out, although he said the area had changed over the intervening years. No trace of Kirsa was found there. The only thing uncovered was a piece of metal wire. 

One day later, on December 5th 1985, Russell visited the studios of TV New Zealand at Avalon, in the city of Lower Hutt and asked to be interviewed on air. He said he wanted to set the record straight about Kirsa Jensen. The staff at the station refused his request and Russell left the studio. A short time later Russell was hospitalised after being seriously injured when his car hit a bridge in Palmerston North. He was the only person injured in the accident. 

A year later in December 1986 newspapers were full of headlines about an escaped mental patient from Sunnyside Hospital, in Christchurch on New Zealand’s south island. The man was said to be dangerous and members of the public were warned not to approach him. It was the now 35 year old John Russell. Press reports indicated he was linked to the 1983 disappearance of 14 year old Kirsa Jensen. Police did not name Russell as a suspect but did say he had been of considerable help to the investigation. 

The following physical description was given of Russell. He was 5ft 9 with a stocky build and ruddy complexion. He had thinning dark hair, was missing a front tooth and had a scar across his nose. His arms were tattooed and he had a tracheotomy scar on his neck. Russell was last seen dressed in a blue jacket, shirt and trousers. 

A sighting came in of Russell near a railway station on Saturday December 13th in Palmerston North. It was believed he then took a bus to Napier and was hiding somewhere in the Hawkes Bay area. It was speculated that the reason behind the escape was that Russell's wife had recently started divorce proceedings. Shortly after this Russell was found hiding at his cousin's house. There are some stories that suggest that after being recaptured he spoke to DI Holyoake and in a distressed state asked, "Could I have done it? Could it have been me?”

Russell was not charged with any offence but taken to Gisborne hospital and then returned to a psychiatric facility. He was described as being dangerous and in a disturbed state. In total he had been on the run for five days. During this time he visited St Augustine church in Napier and spoke with Dan Jensen. He told Kirsa’s father that he was not involved in her disappearance. 

I think at some point over the next two years Russell was released briefly from psychiatric care and visited Robyn Jensen, (To make it clear I cannot confirm this incident as fact) again he told her that he had nothing to do with Kirsa going missing.. In 1987 Russell was admitted to Lake Alice hospital, a secure facility near Marton on New Zealand's North Island. 

In June 1992 Russell was released from Lake Alice hospital and moved into a half way house in Hastings. A month later on July 25th he was found hanged in his room. Russell had taken his own life. He left no note. 

In the aftermath of the suicide police reviewed Kirsa’s case and hoped that associates of Russell may now come forward and share information. In the past police had talked with them but with no success. Ultimately it was the same now that John Russell was dead.  

John Russell remains the main suspect in this case. It must be said that not enough evidence was ever found to bring charges against him. At one point Russell spoke with radio and TV journalist Paul Holmes and told him that in 1985 when he had confessed to knowing what happened to Kirsa he had been mentally ill. 

According to investigators John Russell was reputedly the last person to see Kirsa alive. Police did prove that the rope used to tie up Commodore belonged to Russell. Traces of Copper sulphate from a chemical used to spray trees was found on the rope. As mentioned, Russell worked in an orchard. The same chemical matched samples found in his car and home. Russell said the rope had been used to fasten a caravan awning. He could not explain how it ended up being used to tie up Commodore. 

The testing of fibres from his home and truck did not provide any evidence to charge Russell. Kirsa's blood was not found anywhere in his car or home. Remember at least one witness said Kirsa appeared to be bleeding from a facial injury at the gun emplacement. I have read on the New Zealand Missing website that two hairs were found in Russell’s car which had a strong statistical match to Kirsa’s hair but I cannot find confirmation of this. Russell did admit speaking with Kirsa so accidental transference could be a real possibility.

Russell said he spoke with Kirsa at 4.30pm. Other witnesses also saw Kirsa with a man at his time, but, not long afterwards, Russell arrived back at his home. Several people were able to confirm this. Russell would not have had time to take Kirsa somewhere and return home.

Russell did have a prior conviction for a sexual offence. In 1970 he was found guilty of rape and abduction. I believe that he was not convicted alone and other men were also part of this crime. Since then he’d had no other convictions.

In the 1995 Inside New Zealand documentary. “Kirsa: A Mother's Story”, Robyn Jensen questions aspects of Russell's version of events. She asks how Russell was able to see Kirsa talking to the bald man at the gun emplacement from his position driving over the bridge. She doesn't think it would be possible. This is a detail detectives have also been skeptical about.

Now retired, DI Holyoake was quoted on New Zealand media website Stuff in 2024 as saying the most likely person responsible for Kirsa's disappearance is the prime suspect, John Russell. 

Over the enschewing decades there have been a couple of developments in the case. In 1999 the Melbourne police received a phone call from a man confessing to the murder of Kirsa Jensen. On investigation this was proved to be a false confession. In 2012 human remains were found near the Tutaekari River. It was assumed by many that this would prove to be Kirsa but it was not. Carbon dating showed the bones were far older. 

A significant move occurred in 2023 blood found on the gun emplacement was sent to the lab and compared with a sample of Robyn Jensen's blood. Science confirmed what had been suspected since day one. It was Kirsa’s blood. 

A few months after Kirsa went missing the local Rotary Club funded a simple plaque near the spot she was last seen. A pohutukawa tree was planted in her memory. The tree was vandalised in 2006, but seven years later four more were planted. The concrete gun emplacement has now been demolished. 

Every year on September 1st a small group of people, including retired Ian Holyoake gather at the memorial plaque to remember Kirsa. Robyn, now in her 80’s, attended until ill health prevented her travelling

Kirsa’s legacy lives on in many different ways.

Some of the unclaimed reward money was used to build a special chapel at Dan Jensen’s church, St Augustine’s. Over the years it has proved an important place for the community to remember Kirsa. 

The Kirsa Jensen Trust was established in the mid 1980s, which gives scholarships to students studying veterinary science. At Massey University in Napier, the Kirsa Jensen award is presented to high achieving final year students.

Robyn Jensen went on to train as a counsellor and worked in the area of victim support. She raised awareness of the issue of abduction and its effect on families. Robyn has produced valuable studies on grief and the effect of violent crime. In 1994 Robyn wrote a book about her experience, which details the unresolved grief she has to live with. 

In 2009 the Criminal Investigations (Body Samples) Amendment Bill was passed, which expanded the use of DNA profiling in the solving of historical cases. Stuart Nash MP referenced the Kirsa Jensen case as a motivating factor in seeing the bill made law. Kirsa's story was also influential in the creation of New Zealand's Amber alert system in 2017. The tool utilises social media to spread information quickly about missing children.

According to Detective Sergeant Daryl Moore who is the current lead detective, Kirsa 's case is still very much open. The police still receive two to three calls a year from members of the public sharing tips and information. In 2020 all the case notes were digitized by Eastern district police so information is now more accessible  and can be easily checked and updated. Ian Holyoake, who finished his career as assistant commissioner., says Kirsa will never be forgotten. Hopefully one day someone will share something that will lead to Kirsa finally being found.

If you have any information about the 1983 disappearance of Kirsa Jensen you can call New Zealand Police on 105 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.