THE MISSING. EPISODE 3. LANCE KAPUA

''Statistics indicate around 14,000 people are reported missing in New Zealand every year. Many of these people are found, or turn up of their own accord but there are still approximately 250 official unsolved cases.
National missing persons records are not open to the general public and while the Salvation Army release their missing persons list once a year, a name is usually not enough information to track someone down or recognise them by. This means that unless information is released through the media and updated regularly, New Zealand's missing are more often forgotten about by everyone else but their families and loved ones.
The eight main cases we feature will be thoroughly investigated by a team of experts.
In each episode we will look at the lives of the families who have lost a loved one and the impact that having no reunion and no closure has had. We will look closely at the life of the person who has gone missing.

Lance Kapua was last seen in the early hours of the morning of his 31st birthday in downtown Rotorua. A brilliant student, who had at one stage considered entering the priesthood, Kapua had become ill with schizophrenia and returned to his hometown to be closer to his family. He went out to have a few drinks with mates and didn't come home. The Missing takes a fresh look at Kapua’s disappearance (tonight at 8.30pm on TV ONE).

In stark contrast to the two Swedish tourists who went missing around the same time, there was little publicity and few official searches for Lance Kapua, much to the family's frustration.'' Throng.co.nz; 21/09/2009