The father of one of the Pike River miners says the discovery of more remains is upsetting for some but another step towards justice.
On Friday, police revealed they have new pictures from their borehole cameras which likely show human remains in a spot where three men were working when the West Coast mine exploded in 2010, killing 29.
Bernie Monk, whose 23-year-old son, Michael, was working in the area where the latest possible remains have been found, was contacted by police two days ago about the images.
A picture tribute to the 29 miners who died at Pike River in 2010 after an explosion. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
He said his wife was upset but he was not surprised.
"When you've been at the coal-face as long as I have, I've moved forward, I haven't moved on, but I've forward from that. So every day, I expect something to happen at Pike River."
He could not say whether the remains were Michael's and felt for the other two families.
As more evidence was being officially discovered, it vindicated all the families' decision to keep fighting for answers and investigations, Bernie said.
"Never leave our men, that's a motto of New Zealand. We never leave our people behind."
Sonya Rockhouse receives a hug from Bernie Monk at Atarau, a memorial site near the Pike River Mine. Both lost sons when the mine exploded in 2010. Photo: RNZ / Conan Young
Ironically, Michael and his colleagues were doing ventilation work to make the mine safer.
Police would not officially say the images were definitely human remains, but superintendent Darryl Sweeny said that was because the pathologists were very conservative.
"My common sense hat that I put on and look at those images, I would estimate [they are human remains], there is clothing there and there are items that I would associate with a person but of course we're in the forensic business so we don't want to press that."
The images are the latest gathered from 10 boreholes in the mine area.
Other remains have been discovered before.
Sonya Rockhouse, whose son Benjamin died in a different part of the mine, said she hoped all the images would lead towards a prosecution.
Pike River re-entry announcement. Relative of mine victim, Sonya Rockhouse. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
"I'm feeling sad for those families who have family members in that area but it just further vindicates the fact we needed to go into the drift and start to get all this evidence out."
Finding answers has been a 12-and-a-half-year battle for the families - with investigations refused, then started, then stopped, then restarted.
For Bernie Monk, it has been incredibly frustrating.
He was one of those who wanted to go into the mine straight away, but the decision was made at the time to seal the mine.
Some experts said there would be little to find.
"We were told that everything was a mass destruction [after the explosion], everyone would be ashes and there was a fire underground."
But Bernie said he, and many other families, never believed that. and the police images were proving them them right.
Anna Osborne's husband Milton was in the mine, and she said many families wanted to know whether those they love died instantly, or whether they had time to wear a breathing apparatus.
Anna Osborne Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
But she also believed there were other vital clues there.
"I think the evidence will show where the blast came from because they will be able to see the scorching on the side of the walls and the soot, what direction it was going in."
Her husband was in an area where there were no boreholes being drilled, she said.
She wants that to change.
"It'll give me some sort of formality. It sounds crazy, it's 12-and-a-half years on, but you know, they didn't even walk out of that tunnel. No one came out apart from Daniel and Russell, and it just irks me that they sealed them in and walked away basically."
Police said they expected to have a decision on whether charges would be laid before the end of the year.
