The Lost

In episode five, Fran Martin popped out to the petrol station in Hamilton in 2005, bought cigarettes, and wasn't seen again. Her father, Bob, has spent his life savings looking for her.Watch a video segment from the episode hereBob Martin has spent 13 years, his savings and much of his pension looking for his daughter.When she disappeared in 2005, the 79-year-old combed the reserves along State Highway 1 between Hamilton and Taupo. He put flyers up in Putaruru and Tokoroa. He dug on land because psychics told him that's where she'd be.But he's been unable to find her.Francesca Martin - known as Fran and aged 42 when she went missing - was last seen at a petrol station in Hamilton on April 20, 2005. Her white Nissan Pulsar turned up the next day two hours' drive away, near the intersection of State Highway 1 and 5 in Wairakei."All I want to do is to get someone to come up and tell me, I do know where she is and get lucky and find that he's right or she's right," Bob says. "All I want is my daughter and to bury her - nothing more."Bob told RNZ's podcast The Lost he's driven to Wairakei to look for Fran more than one hundred times and spent his savings of $75,000 in his search."I had big telephone bills. It was just a bit here and a bit there, but a bit here and a bit there over six years is a lot of money."Fran was last seen at a Caltex petrol station. CCTV footage shows she bought cigarettes, took out $30 and then left. About 20 seconds later, it appears she came back in to ask for directions.At the time, police said Fran was at the petrol station at 8.55pm, but Detective Sergeant, Matt Cranshaw, who is in charge of her case now, says she took out money at exactly 7.57pm - an hour earlier.Mr Cranshaw says the discrepancy between the petrol station timestamp and bank withdrawal could be because of daylight saving.A truck driver would later report seeing a car like Fran's passing him near the highway intersection at Wairakei at about 10.45pm. When he approached the intersection, Mr Cranshaw says the truck driver looked up State Highway 5 towards Rotorua and saw what appeared to be the same car parked."The inside lights turned on and the passenger door was opened," Mr Cranshaw says. "From that he assumed there may be two people because that door was open. However, he could not see inside the vehicle."Fran's car was be found by police about 24 hours after she was seen at the petrol station…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In episode three, Tracey Donnelly says her husband Jim's disappearance is illogical, and 13 years on, still believes there are answers to be found - in the Glenbrook Steel Mill.Watch a video segment from the episode hereOn Monday 21 June 2004, Jim Donnelly signed into work as usual. Thirteen years later, he still hasn't signed out.The 43-year-old father-of-two worked at the Glenbrook Steel Mill, south of Auckland, for nearly 20 years.His wife, Tracey, is still trying to find out what happened to him; she believes the answer lies in the mill where he was last seen alive."There has been no sighting of him apart from inside the mill. There has been no sighting of him leaving. There has been no sighting of him since he was seen on the gantry," she says."It makes me incredibly sad and upset that this wonderful person who was my husband and the father of my children disappeared without a trace."The couple's children, Liam and Siobhan, were aged seven and five when Jim disappeared. They are now grown up.On the day Jim went missing, Tracey called him at work about 8am and became increasingly worried when she didn't hear back. Jim had missed a 9am meeting and was nowhere to be found, yet his car was still parked at the mill carpark. He was reported missing about 6pm.Tracey believed he may have had an accident, but the theory shifted. Search and rescue teams thought he may have had a mental breakdown and was actively evading them.Jim had been behaving strangely in the days before his disappearance. Tracey and Jim had planned to spend the night at an Auckland hotel on the Saturday, but out of nowhere he said he had a meeting to go to.A Saturday night meeting made no sense to Tracey, but no matter how hard she tried to find out more, Jim wouldn't tell her where he was going. He hired a suit and headed off. It's still not clear why he needed the suit.Things between the pair didn't get any better the next day, when again Jim said he had to divert a "crisis and a waste". Tracey was confused.Some of his co-workers described Jim's behaviour as strange on the Monday too.Five days after Jim was last seen at work, workers at the mill found his hard hat next to an acid tank in a restricted area of the mill - the area had already been searched.The tank was drained and some of Jim's things were found inside. The acid wasn't strong enough to do significant damage. His house keys have never been found.Who put Jim's things there? That question remains unanswered. The hard hat wasn't tested for fingerprints.The search for Jim was eventually scaled back…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Paloma Migone digs into the cold cases of those who never came home. In episode one, Robyn Jensen says she'll never give up hope of finding her daughter, Kirsa.Watch a video segment from the episode hereTime is running out for Robyn Jensen.The 72 year-old hasn't seen her daughter, Kirsa, in more than 34 years.Kirsa was 14 when she went missing while riding her horse, Commodore, along a Napier beach on the first day of spring in 1983. The terrible story gripped the country for weeks, months, years. Teenage girls weren't meant to just disappear in broad daylight. Not here. Not like this. Yet while the mystery remains unsolved, Robyn's questions just remain. What happened to Kirsa, the animal-loving teenage girl who would be 49 next month?Despite the passage of time, Robyn's determination to find her daughter hasn't faded - it's only become more urgent. Rather than time being a healer, it's opening a new wound as the fear grows her own life could end before she's able to put Kirsa to rest."She's my daughter. She is just so very precious to me and the longer it goes, the harder it is because one day I may be dead and she may not be found."To be able to locate her and put her in a decent place, to rest forever, is vitally important to me."Robyn has spoken with RNZ as part of a new podcast, The Lost, which looks into some of the country's missing persons cases."There is a whole new generation of people who don't know or haven't heard or know that there was a girl in Napier that something happened to," she says.Robyn describes her daughter Kirsa as a serious and dedicated child, who adored animals and dreamed of being a vet and a rider for the New Zealand equestrian team."When I think of her, I think curls and bubbles and laughter and responsibility," she says. "Generous and kind and putting others first, but so dedicated to what she wanted to do. She would have done anything for an animal."Before her disappearance, the family was living in Napier, as Kirsa's father, Dan, was the Anglican minister at St Augustine's Church. Kirsa had been volunteering at a local vet clinic and training Commodore for the upcoming Hawke's Bay Royal A&P Show during the school holidays.On September 1, 1983, she had planned to go riding with her friend. Rain had stopped her from getting Commodore some exercise, but the sun was out that day. Her friend cancelled but Kirsa was still keen to go to the beach. She got Commodore ready, and said good-bye to her mother about 2.45pm.At 5pm, Robyn began to feel anxious…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details