‘He just walked out…and never came back’: Family of missing man Shane Edwards fear foul play

Shane Edwards seemingly vanished into thin air. Much about his disappearance from his home in Tokoroa last year doesn’t add up. Now, his partner and her family say they were “harassed” by police. Tony Wall investigates a suburban mystery.

South Tokoroa. Paint peels from ageing weatherboard homes. Household junk piles up in yards. People scrape by on low wages or benefits.

But there’s a community spirit – neighbours say hi and look out for one another; lawns are kept neat.

This was Shane Edwards’ patch. He lived in Hawick St, with his partner and three boys, in a three bedroom private rental on a 1500sqm section at the end of a right-of-way, obscured from the street.

Most days his neighbours would see the 42-year-old walking his primary-age kids to school, or biking alongside them. Whenever he left the property, it was by pushbike, as he didn’t have a car.

Suddenly, one day, he was gone.

“I tell you what, we noticed his presence not around,” says a neighbour, who declines to be named.

“He was a really lovely guy. He always said hello. I actually said to my wife, ‘have you seen the neighbour … I haven’t seen him for a while’. Not too long after that, I found out.”

Edwards vanished on May 14, 2022 and police were notified a few days later.

Searches were launched; flyers posted around Tokoroa. The first the wider public knew of the mystery was about a month later, when Edwards’ partner of 18 years, and mother of his children, Alvina Smith, did media interviews pleading for information.

“Come home hun. The boys miss you. We all miss you,” she said, sobbing uncontrollably and wiping her nose with a tissue.

More than a year later, the trail has gone cold. Possible sightings of Edwards around the North Island were investigated, and discounted by police.

Edwards’ bike remained at the property. He didn’t show up on CCTV cameras in Tokoroa, or further afield. His wallet and phone are missing – his bank account hasn’t been touched, nor his phone used.

As far as the available evidence is concerned, Edwards never left Hawick St. He’s become a ghost.

All that is known about Edwards’ last movements is what Smith has told police and media – that he cooked the family lunch and was doing the dishes while she was with the boys in their room. When she came out, he was gone.

She didn’t hear any car pulling up, and their dog didn’t bark, she says.

Her sister, Carol, who was living in a garage on the property and bought the pork chops that Edwards cooked up that day, says it’s a mystery.

“You pick up on things and there was nothing – honestly nothing, he just walked out … and never came back.”

By all accounts, Edwards, who has ‘Alvina’ tattooed on his right forearm, was in good spirits, had no history of mental health problems and no gang affiliations.

Police say his disappearance is completely out of character.

A Stuff investigation has uncovered troubling information about the couple’s relationship, reports of frequent loud arguments and visits to the property by police, and comings and goings at all hours of the day and night.

We’ve also discovered more about the police operation – in the early days of the inquiry they dug up parts of the back yard and in Smith’s words, “ransacked” the house, including cutting open mattresses.

Smith and her sister say it felt like harassment and they were made to feel like suspects rather than grieving family members.

“I’ve not been offered any support, I’m still waiting to be referred for counselling,” says Alvina Smith, who has been living in motels for several months after being evicted from the home for not paying rent.

Before she left the property, Smith burnt all the family’s belongings in the back yard. She says she did this because she was given short notice to move out, didn’t have a car, and had no way to move everything.

“I burnt everything – clothes, furniture, toys,” she says. “Me and the boys only took a bag of clothes, that’s pretty much all we have.”

Edwards’ family is concerned that she burnt his things, but Smith says she kept them, for the boys.

Edwards comes from a successful family. His mother is Timua​ Brennan, a Christchurch-based opera singer who was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2018, for services to music and Māori.

His brother is Dr Michael Edwards, a psychologist who looked at arson recidivism for his doctorate at Canterbury University.

Michael Edwards, who is based in Western Australia, travelled to Tokoroa last year and made his own inquiries.

“Shane is no longer with us – we have come to accept that reality,” he tells Stuff by email, adding that his brother wouldn’t have willingly missed so many family events and milestones.

He says he learned information during his inquiries that was “highly concerning”, which needs police follow-up.

He believes certain parties are withholding information and asks that anyone who can help, to come forward.

He suspects foul play, but says it’s possible there was an accident of some sort and his body hasn’t been found.

Neighbours of the property in Hawick St say they can’t stop thinking about Shane, and what became of him.

One woman, who asks that her name be withheld, says there were often loud arguments and raised voices and police visited “multiple times”.

“There were times when [Shane] would leave and he would … come back when things were more settled.”

Cars would come and go down their shared driveway at all hours, the neighbour says, and there was sometimes a strong smell of cannabis coming from the property.

“He was a lovely man, he was very kind, he was hard working, he would always clean up the yard and make sure everything was nice and tidy. It’s so sad.”

The neighbour who would say hello to Edwards when he passed with his sons says he told police about very loud arguing around the time he went missing.

The man erected security cameras after the disappearance, for peace of mind for all the neighbours.

Smith doesn’t deny that her and Edwards’ relationship was volatile, especially at the start. He had gone to court for assaulting her, she says, and had completed counselling and anti-violence courses.

Did she ever hit him? “I’m sure I did, yeah. [He] just didn’t get the police involved.”

She says not all the arguing that neighbours heard was her and Edwards; other family members were often there and sometimes fought.

Smith says in the early stages of the inquiry, family members, including her father, Richard, were “harassed” by police.

“We haven’t got shiny records … but we got harassed big time.” Her father told the lead detective never to come back, she says.

She says she underwent a “gruelling” interview at the police station. “It was a nightmare. I’d had enough. It was just [questions about] everything, anything.”

Carol Smith says it was draining for her sister.

“I don’t know how many times she had to repeat herself and there were a couple of times we said to the investigators … ‘you’re just draining her now, she doesn’t want to talk to youse’.”

She says it was tough for the whole family.

“We were all under investigation because we … didn’t have a clue to … why he disappeared. I mean, their relationship wasn’t perfect, but whose is?

“It was pretty horrific, just with Shane missing, let alone dealing with [police] at the same time.”

Police declined to comment, saying to provide specific details about their inquiries “may jeopardise the ongoing investigation”.

Alvina Smith says after she moved out of the property, she returned to collect something and found police there.

“They had the dogs out and they dug a lot of holes in the back yard. I tried to tell them that’s where Shane grew his weed.

“He grew about maybe five plants one year, they were scattered all over the yard. They knew that, but they still were digging there.”

What does she think they were looking for?

“I don’t know, him maybe? I’m sure they had to cross that off the list.”

Smith says she waited a couple of days to report Edwards missing as her family suggested he might have just been taking a break.

She says police have raised several theories. “They said there could be another lover, he might be off grid…”

But she has barely heard from police since last year, she says. “They’re not telling me anything, they’re just not keeping me up to date.”

Police refused to put anyone up for an interview about the case. In a statement, they said it remains an active missing person case, but they hold “grave concerns” for Edwards, given the amount of time that has passed.

They continue to pursue leads, and “communicate any developments to [family] routinely”.

Smith has given up hope of seeing her partner again.

“I don’t think he’s here with us. But I don’t know what’s happened to him, or how. I’m not on good terms with Shane’s family – we have never seen eye to eye – so it makes it a little bit harder.”

She and her boys, aged 5, 7 and 9, are struggling in emergency housing. “I’ve looked for a house for us, but we’re not even getting in to view homes. I’ve searched everywhere.”

This year has been about trying to work through her grief, she says.

“I’ve been doing a lot of self healing courses, I’m trying to work on myself.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police on 105 – either by calling or online at police.govt.nz/use-105 ‘Update Report’ and reference file number 220518/6338.