1 Feb 2012

Cook Islands police reconstruct events in missing skipper case

3:58 pm on 1 February 2012

The Cook Islands police are trying to reconstruct events in the case of a lone yachtsman missing off Rarotonga.

The man, who has name suppression in New Zealand, is wanted in New Zealand on 26 sex-related charges including the rape of young girls.

The man disappeared off Rarotonga from the yacht he was skippering about a month ago after earlier entering the port under a pseudonym for medical treatment.

Inspector John Strickland says a reconstruction of events may shed some light on the case which is still one of a missing person.

"It's basically going back from the beginning of the whole matter, looking at all the evidence and all the reports of what we have done so far, reviewing all sources and checking for any gaps that we may have missed in the process. We are pretty much confident that a lot of the gaps have already been addressed."

Inspector Strickland says the Cook Islands police is still waiting for the New Zealand based owner of the yacht to come forward.