NZ volcano eruption: Winona Langford’s body may never be found, authorities say
NZ authorities apologise for being unable to find final two bodies: ‘We’re in the hands of the sea.’
Police in New Zealand believe the bodies of Australian teenager Winona Langford and local tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman have been washed out to sea, after failing to find them since last week’s White Island eruption.
Of the 47 adventure tourists and guides on Whakaari during the blast, all but Sydney teenager Winona Langford and Whakatane tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman have been accounted for.
For the first time since the eruption, New Zealand authorities admit the balance is tipping against them recovering two remaining missing bodies.
Deputy Police Commissioner Mike Clement on Wednesday said the two bodies were believed to have been near a stream on the island, also known as Whakaari, and it is thought that they have been washed out to sea.
That stream has been searched three times, and there has been no sign of the bodies during reconnaissance flights over the island.
The body of Sydney woman Winona Langford, 17, was named as the sole Australian still missing following the eruption.
She had been on holiday with her father Anthony Langford and the rest of her family to celebrate his 51st birthday.
But Mr Langford and his wife, Kristine, 45, were killed when the volcano erupted shortly after 2pm last Monday while they were on a day trip to White Island, about 50km north of Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty.
Only the couple’s son, Jesse, survived — although he is still fighting for life in hospital.
Police have remained positive and committed to returning bodies to families since establishing the retrieval operation.
But after two days of rotten weather restricting a water-based search and aerial surveillance seemingly ruling out the prospect of them being on Whakaari’s surface, hopes are dimming.
“The reality is we’ve dived in the area where the body was last seen and we can’t find it,” deputy commissioner Mike Clement told Radio NZ. “We’ve also had sonar working in that area so we’ve got a reasonable amount of confidence it’s not where we last saw it but we can’t be 100 per cent confident.
“Nobody can be 100 per cent confident. That’s why we’re still here. We are deeply sorry that we haven’t until this time been able to recover the bodies. We are literally in the hands of the sea.”
He said police have been searching the coastline along the North Island, but that there was no guarantee that they would be found.
“What we do is model and put ourselves in a position where we think that things could eventuate and if all of those things are playing out then we will find it,” he told RNZ. “And if they don’t, we won’t.”
A body, was seen in the water near the White Island’s jetty on December 11, but was unable to be retrieved.
“We’ve done searches of a similar type in the past – sometimes you find them and sometimes you don’t and there are factors beyond our control in regard to that outcome,” Mr Clement said.
“No one absolutely knows, but the reality is we saw it on the surface of the water last Wednesday, so two days after the eruption. We weren’t able to retrieve it then and it went back down – so whether it’s come back up or whether it’s still down there is up for, I suppose, discussion.”
On Tuesday, police expanded their search to include nearby North Island bays, believing that tides in the Bay of Plenty could wash remains ashore. “We think if there was going to be any drift in the tide of a body on the surface of the water anyway, it could potentially go that way so we have been searching that way as well,” Clement said.
“We just have to work with the weather; we’ve been lucky up to now but it’s turned on us currently.
“What we do is model and put ourselves in a position where we think things could eventuate and if all of those things are playing out then we will find it. “And if they don’t, we won’t.” The heartbreaking scenario comes after the jubilation of last Friday, when a crack defence force squad retrieved six bodies from nearby the crater. Family of Marshall-Inman were in Whakatane to experience the highs of the successful mission, only to learn he wasn’t among the six bodies recovered. Hayden’s brother Mark Inman said the family was managing its grief as best it could.
“We’re coping. We’re staying positive. You’ve got to keep positive thoughts so that you can forever hope that he’ll return home one day,” he told 1News. “The only positive that would come out of him not returning is his absolutely love of the island and his passion for White Island.
He’ll forever be a guardian out there.” Marshall-Inman had a long fascination with the volcano, with Inman saying the fateful visit was his 1111th to the Bay of Plenty island.
“You could speak to him every day about it and he’d give you a new fact or something new that had happened on the island,” he said.
“He loved sharing such a beautiful place with so many people, both Kiwis and internationals.
“It’s a beauty.
“Everyone was in awe of the excitement and the energy the island could bring. It’s something special.” A reception will be held on Friday in Whaktane for Marshall-Inman’s life.
Adiitional reporting: AAP
Brother fights for life
Winona Langford, a 17-year-old from Sydney’s north shore, has become the latest identified victim of the White Island volcano disaster, after she was named on Tuesday as the one Australian whose body is still missing.
She had been on holiday with her father Anthony Langford and the rest of her family to celebrate his 51st birthday.
But Mr Langford and his wife, Kristine, 45, were killed when the volcano erupted shortly after 2pm last Monday while they were on a day trip to White Island, about 50km north of Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty.
Only the couple’s son, Jesse, survived — although he is still fighting for life in hospital.
Winona was an avid painter, and a finalist in her local council’s art awards. Her paintings of two rabbits were printed on flags that flew at her local shopping centre in Chatswood.
Just eight weeks before boarding the cruise, Winona was with her school friends as they celebrated their Year 11 social, and beginning their final year of school.
Initially feared dead in the aftermath of the disaster, Jesse was eventually found in a New Zealand hospital, and transferred to Sydney for further treatment at the weekend.
It is understood he suffered burns to 80-90 per cent of his body and is currently in a coma in Sydney’s Royal North Shore hospital.
Extended family praised the work being done to save the 19-year-old.
“Jesse is recovering in hospital, receiving excellent care,” they said it a statement.
“Anthony and Kristine, loving parents to Jesse and Winona, were a wonderful couple and devoted to both their immediate and extended families. They will be greatly missed by all who knew them.”
News of their deaths has shattered their Willoughby community, where 300 of the family’s friends, classmates, and teachers gathered for a vigil at St Leonard’s Catholic Church in Naremburn on Sunday.
On Tuesday, NSW Premier and Willoughby MP Gladys Berejiklian told The Australian that “many” in the suburb knew the Langford family.
“This tragedy has had a profound impact on our local community,” she said.
Liz Diprose, principal of Willoughby Girls High School, which Winona attended, said students were “deeply saddened that Winona is still unaccounted for”, and said support services were being offered to her classmates. New Zealand police issued an update on Tuesday afternoon, saying a helicopter crew had searched Taungawaka Bay, off the New Zealand North Island about 70km east of White Island for the bodies of Winona and New Zealand volcano tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman, who also remains unaccounted for.
“The weather around the island today has hampered efforts, preventing an earlier search,” deputy commissioner John Tims said.
New Zealand police and defence force staff successfully retrieved six of eight missing bodies from the island on Friday.
Visiting Auckland on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she had gone to thank the New Zealand government, first responders and medical staff, as well as Australian consular officials and members of the Australian disaster victim identification teams who had helped with the rescue and recovery effort.
Asked whether she believed police were confident of finding Winona’s body, Senator Payne said she knew “every effort” was being made, despite the search being hampered by bad weather and the toxic volcanic environment. “They will do everything they can. We are assured of that,” she said.
Additional reporting: Agencies
More Coverage
‘Fat’ chance: whale-size cabinet male, stale
Prabowo Subianto’s “fat” cabinet aims to eliminate all parliamentary opposition and reward all those who backed his third-time lucky presidential race.
Austin won’t budge on Ukraine’s biggest weapons requests
Lloyd Austin has helped bolster Ukraine’s fight against Russia but has argued for limiting military aid.