(DARK MUSIC) - There's no crime scene, there's no crime type, and there is no body. - We didn't handle missing persons well in those days. It was very rare for a missing person to develop into a homicide. Very rare. (PUNK MUSIC PLAYS) - In November 1988, 17-year-old Joe Chatfield went to an experimental music gig at Auckland University. - There was a lot of lights. There's a lot of noise. It's really loud. - She was out to have a good time, and she was on the dance floor at that gig that night. - And suddenly she disappears. - Nigel and I offered Joe a ride home. Joe walked off, and that's the last time I saw her. - It comes back to the policeman's nose for trouble, really. Something doesn't seem right about this. - Where did Joe go after she was last seen walking away from the university gig? - People don't just walk out of their life and disappear. It just doesn't happen. - 32 years after Joe Chatfield disappeared without a trace, police believe it's never too late to solve a cold case, but your help is imperative. We have brought together a specialist team to review some of New Zealand's most haunting unsolved investigations. They'll use their skills, expertise and up to date technology to look at things with fresh eyes. For those involved over the years, it's a constant torment that the case didn't get solved. - Since I started working on this, I think she always stays with you. It seems as if there's this solemn figure that's there that just stays with you. - I got a call at home, and immediately my heart just... started pounding. I thought, 'Oh my gosh. They've found her. They've found her.' And, no, it was 'We're reopening the investigation.' - Three decades on, police believe the passing of time gives them a distinct edge. Can you help us solve the disappearance of Joe Chatfield? Captions by Julie Taylor. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 - Joe was reported missing by her mother the following day. She was concerned because she'd had no contact from Joe. There was the plan or expectation that Joe was coming home that night. - From there, there were enquiries that were made, obviously, with the family trying to figure out where she'd gone. - Oh, Joe. We all love you, and we're really worried where you are. So if you're watching, please just phone us and let us know you're OK. - And what they did at that stage was to try and speak to the most obvious people that they needed to speak to in regards to where she would have been. - There wasn't a lot of significant information that came out of the investigation. As a young child, Joe grew up in the Mangere Bridge area, and she had a really great Kiwi young person's upbringing or lifestyle. She lived with her mum, and she had a really close relationship with her mum. - We're just like peas in a pod. She had lots of kids come and play, because she was an only child. She had a sandpit, and her grandfather had made her a swing. When we had heaps of grass to play, teach the kids how to do cartwheels. Really loveable, easy child. - Joe was in love with language and words from a really early age. We know that as a young child, she was always writing. In the sixth form, she finished second to top and her journalism class. And we know that she wanted to continue with that passion. - She was really a loving kid. Some of the things that she did were quite remarkable. An elderly lady that she would visit on a regular basis, take her gifts and things like that. You know, like, for a 17-year-old to have that compassion and be able to do something like that, you know, probably speaks volumes for the way she was brought up. - At 17, Joe was like most teenagers ` in a hurry and eager to find her own path in life. - Things were definitely changing for Joe in the sixth form year. It became quite apparent that she became very interested in the punk movement. Music was starting to become really important in her life. - She liked the Sex Pistols. She idolised, yeah, Sid and Nancy. And she had a bass guitar. She loved that. - She was starting to really wanna push those boundaries. She wanted to be able to go out and about. She wanted to be spending time in town at gigs. She's been previously described as being gregarious. And I love that word, because from what I know of Joe from the file, I can see that she's incredibly social; she's confident; she wanted to get out there; she's wanting to explore a new scene and nothing, really, was gonna hold her back. - CLAIRE CHATFIELD: Like most 17-year-olds, she just thought she should be able to do what she wanted to do when she wanted to do it. - Joe had arranged to move into a flat. It was situated above the Hard To Find bookstore in Onehunga. She was incredibly excited about this move, and she talked to a whole lot of family and friends about that. - As teenagers, we felt really different. And I guess... Joe, like all of us, expressed it in the way that she dressed and the way she presented herself. - She had a shaved head on both sides. She would regularly spike her hair with Lux flakes. - Sometimes it was pink; sometimes it was green ` just depending how she felt. And she'd often wear a collar ` like, a leather studded collar. She loved fishnet stockings and, sort of, vintage... old vintage clothing. - That was her, and it was about her expressing herself and being part of that free spirit and finding out who she was as she was starting to grow into a young adult. - The only thing I did worry a little bit, cos she had such a punk image, I thought someone might turn around and bash her up, and she wasn't a girl that was gonna be capable of fighting back. - I guess like all teenagers, we were no different. The fact that we looked different doesn't mean that we were different on the inside; we were just different on the outside, so we still cared very much about things in the world. Perhaps we even cared more. - I just always remember her being out on the streets and getting people to sign petitions. - You could regularly see Joe in Auckland City trying to sign people up with respect to the anti-vivisection movement and trying to gain support to get people to stop the experimentation that was taking place on animals. - Joe was a punk with soul and a lot of feeling and... Yes. - We know that she was writing for anarchist-based publications and that was just part of who she was. It was a difficult time probably for us, because we weren't` we didn't feel like we were accepted. But then also at the same time, we kind of didn't wanna be accepted; we didn't want to be part of that world out there. - During the day of the gig, Joe spent her time packing and moving some of her belongings into her new flat. She was excited with this bid for independence. - CLAIRE CHATFIELD: She'd come round and had dinner with me and Andy and my brother. She was in a real happy state of mind. We'd been helping her move stuff that day, and my brother had a van, and I got her some groceries to go to the flat, and she gave me a hug, and she just toddled off. - It would have been around about 7.30, 8 o'clock-ish she started heading off into town and probably got there around about 8, 8.30 to the actual gig at the Auckland University itself. (PUNK MUSIC PLAYS) - There were around 100 people at the gig; the crowd a diverse mix from all walks of life. - JENNY STONE: Experimental, very unusual type stage acts. And although there were a lot of lights, it was also very dark, so... And that was the effect it was meant to have on people to make it quite sort of disorientating and confronting. - From people that were at that gig, we've been able to ascertain a few different versions of Joe's behaviour that night at the gig. - She seemed to be very mixed up emotionally that night. She definitely seemed a little bit` there was something going on. - I think Joe was... not acting in any unusual ways,... happy or not; she was a mixture of emotions like we all are at times. (PUNK MUSIC PLAYS) - At the same time, she seemed to be like she was out to have a good time. I remember her moving around the dance floor and interacting. - She was last seen leaving the Auckland University just a little before midnight. - Nigel and I offered Joe a ride home because it was late and Nigel had a car. - No, it's all good, yeah. Bye. I'll see you guys later. - She just seemed like she was just floating and seemed to be in a bit of a stubborn mood. - Are you OK? - Joe said no. She walked off in one direction and we went home and the other. And that's the last time I saw her. Mm. - From there, we don't have any other information with what's happened to Joe from that point in time. - Having Joe disappear like that just into thin air was very, very scary when you're, you know, quite young and... and it seemed that the adults weren't taking responsibility for it. No one was listening to us. They thought that she'd run away ` that was the story that we heard. We'd heard that Joe was most likely going to turn up, and we definitely didn't feel that way at all. We felt something had happened to Joe. - I knew something was wrong. Just didn't add up. - We've got a 17-year-old girl who's in the prime of her life, starting to find some independence, who attends a gig at Auckland University. She leaves that gig, and she just disappears. Somebody knows what happened to Joe 31 years ago. Hey, uh,... Jimmy, you're riding with Rodney. - Far out. Big Rod, eh? - Everyone gets Rodneyed on their first day. - Hop in, mate. Don't worry about these bumholes! - (CHUCKLES) - Nah, they're good guys. Yeah, the guys always joke that I like to be on site before they've even left the base. But you know, I like to get there early, have a muffin, relax. You like muffins? (ENGINE REVS) Oh, I just got a new V8. Not a bogey-green one, though! (BOTH CHUCKLE) Hey, let's take the scenic route, eh? It's longer, but I make it fun. That's why the guys do paper, scissors, rock to see who comes with me. - Cos no one wants to go with that other dude you guys work with, eh? The one we were having a crack at this morning? - Who, Grubby Aaron? - Nah, you know, the guy that's always gunning it. - No one wants to ride with him. Yeah! Oh, man, he's got a V8 too. (INTRIGUING MUSIC) - Joe Chatfield, a smart, feisty and fiercely independent young woman was last seen leaving a gig at Auckland University in 1988. Neither Joe nor any of her possessions have ever been found. We have brought together a group of cold case investigators to spearhead a new inquiry. Leading our review will be Detective Senior Sergeant Shaun Vickers, the new officer in charge. - What makes this investigation unique is we still don't have a scene, a crime type or Joe. Now as an investigator, I want to be able to provide the answers to Joe's family, her mother, Claire, who I've built up a relationship with, and tell them exactly what happened that night. And I want to find Joe and be able to bring it back to her family. - Integral to the team is 2IC Detective Sergeant Len Leleni. - I think she would have been a bit of a fighter. I don't think she would have gone that quietly. - Joining the team with an intimate knowledge of policing in Auckland at the time Joe went missing is retired Detective Inspector Graham Bell. - The whole police landscape was totally different to what it is now. In 1988, there was more violence and people would resort more readily to violence than in previous decades. And I think that was just part of all of the social upheaval that was going on. - Bringing science to the fore is Shreena Hira, forensic psychologist with the police's Behavioural Science Unit. - I think a lot of young people had this sense that they can take risks and nothing will happen to them or they minimise the risk level when they kind of interpret the danger. So I think Joe was certainly a person who was taking risks and also felt like she should be able to take those risks. - Four experts, one cold case. It's time for the investigation to begin. We will also be looking to you, the viewer, to help solve the case of Joe Chatfield. - SHAUN VICKERS: What we know is that she was living at home with her mother in Mangere Bridge at that time. She had plans that she was going to be moving into a new flat in Onehunga. And on that Saturday, November the 19th, she had moved some of her property into that flat. Now, she'd been talking over a short period of time with friends and associates that she was really excited about this gig. - So this is November. So school is virtually over, to all intents and purposes. - SHREENA HIRA: She'd finished on the Friday. - Yep. - Right. - That was her last day of school. And she didn't intend to go back. - So her being excited is quite understandable. It's probably the first big weekend of the summer for her. - Joe's managed to get herself into Auckland city. She was known to walk and catch buses, quite an independent young lady. Some of the groups that are playing that night ` so, we've got Tinnitus, and Tinnitus has been explained to us as an early electronica band. Secondly, we've got the Ministry of Compulsory Joy. Probably an outsider looking in look at probably describing them as sort of provocative. - Mm. - So, Graham, we've got some images here that just show people sort of wearing bondage-type kits. We've got people being led around on leads. We have all sorts of things that are designed to pretty much be as far out there as you can be. And sometimes the show would simulate sex. - Mm. - Cos it was interesting. We talked to some of the band members, and it's sort of not really; it's all designed to shock. (PUNK MUSIC PLAYS) - We know from witness accounts that Joe's mood seemed to be up and down while she's present at the gig. - She's an adolescent. She's probably using alcohol and potentially cannabis at that gig as well. It's pretty normal and expected that her might have fluctuated across the period of the night. So not surprising that potentially some people had seen her in a good mood, happy, cheerful, and other people had said that potentially she was crying or she looked like her mood was down. So not overly unusual. - Oh, no, no, I'll be fine. - So, what's the last confirmed sighting of her alive? - LEN LELENI: Joe was last seen... She was seen by a couple of her friends, Nigel and Jenny. - And one of those people offered her a ride. Is that right? - Yes. They said, 'Well, we're going off to wherever they were going. You can come with us.' And she said, no, she was off somewhere. - Thanks but no thanks. - Yes. Pretty much. - Yeah. There's at least two people that can confirm she's definitely on Princes St walking towards Wellesley St, and then from that point on, there's nothing. - The next day, obviously, Claire became a little more concerned, and she obviously went to the Mangere police station and made a report, a missing persons report. - The police response at that time was generally influenced by looking for sightings of Joe. So there's public appeals, and we know that there was the use of Crimewatch. ('CRIMEWATCH' THEME MUSIC) - ARCHIVE: On the evening of Saturday, the 19th of November, she set off to catch the bus into town. Joe's friends remember talking to her. - I came out of functions at about 11 o'clock, and I saw Joe sitting down with another friend. - She was just moving into a new flat that day, and she seemed really happy about it. - Now, there were sightings of Joe all over New Zealand, from Westport through to Auckland, through into the Central Plateau. - But these were either Joe's friend Jenny, who had appeared in the Crimewatch story or other young female punk rockers. - GRAHAM BELL: Sightings can be notoriously unreliable. Some people see things; some people don't see things but think they've seen something; some people just make them up. It's unbelievable, but it happens. - There must be people watching this programme now, and even perhaps Joanne herself, who could set those fears at rest. If you're among them, please do call. - The unfortunate aspect of that appeal to her to come forward is that the police have unwittingly said to the public, 'We think this girl's done a runner.' - 'She actually is still alive. She's probably in New Zealand living somewhere,...' - Troublesome teen done a runner. - '...and they just want...' Yeah. - And so public sympathy and concern about her has probably evaporated at that moment. (HAUNTING MUSIC) - And what about, Graham, if we take you back to the late '80s, what do you think the public perception of or sympathy would have been with respect to Joe? She's dressed like a punk. - I'd say the public sympathy would have been virtually zero. Most people didn't have much patience for punk rock in those days. The punk rock thing had arrived, and there were people walking around with safety pins in their noses and Mohawk haircuts and big coloured hair. We'd never seen that in New Zealand before, and some people didn't like it. - It wouldn't be unusual to see her with a rat sitting on a shoulder. - I think it's really important to recognise that the social climate back in the '80s is really different to what it is now. Historically, there may have been a lot of judgement around the punk scene and also the aesthetic that goes with that and the attitudes that people had. And I think people's views on that are very different now and a lot more accepting of those differences. - So it's an entirely different world. - Yeah, yeah. If you're dealing with a missing person file, what are the investigative tools you've got available in 1988? - With a missing person like this, really, all you're left with is wearing out shoe leather and radial tyres ` basically knocking on doors, asking people, area canvass. Nothing was computerised. People didn't have cell phones in those days. No one had cell phones. It was notebooks; it was typewriters, and that was pretty much it. - The original team was up against a combination of wannabe sightings, fewer tools at their disposal, a conservative social climate and the public perception that Joe was simply a runaway teen. But there was also another hurdle for the 1988 investigators. - The aggravating factor was that she went missing in the Auckland Central District and her disappearance was reported in the Manakau Police District. - Right. - And somehow there's been a disconnect between those two districts. There was some effort at South Auckland and... as laudable as it may have been, but I think that if it had been better appreciated at the time, just how sinister this disappearance was, the balloon would have gone up, and there would have been a major investigation. It didn't get the attention it deserved. - So, where can the Cold Case team take this case? Can their combined expertise finally provide answers for Joe's family and friends? - On the brink of starting a new stage in her young life, teenager Joe Chatfield vanished after attending a gig at Auckland University in November of 1988. To advance the investigation, the Cold Case team must re-examine all the possible explanations into Joe's disappearance. - The first one that that comes to mind is suicide. - We don't have any definitive way to be able to predict someone's suicide risk, but there were certainly features about Joe that we might recognise as lower-risk factors. There were certainly things like having future goals, setting up a new stage of her life that she was actually looking forward to. And also she didn't have a huge mental health history in terms of mood disorders or anything like that that would give us an indication that that would be something she was considering. - I feel like if she were going to go down that path, she'd document the fact and the reasons why so it was quite clear, you know, what stance she was taking and why she was doing what she was doing. - I think quite comfortable also that we're probably all in agreement that suicide is very unlikely. - Could a 17-year-old orchestrate her own disappearance? - Would Joe have done that? Unlikely, I think. There are a lot of different things around her behaviour that would indicate that she had no intention of wanting to be away from the life that she had. We know she wanted to be more independent, but she was actually getting that. - And what means would Joe have had to travel overseas? - Did she have a passport? - Yes. So, she had a passport, but her passport was still in New Zealand and accounted for. If we know that she hasn't touched her bank accounts... - Yeah, I think that the whole self-disappearance thing is... the chances of that having happened are virtually nil. - Yep. So, could Joe have become a victim of an accident that's led to a death? - That's a distinct possibility, I believe. I mean, she's a pedestrian. If she gets knocked over by somebody who's perhaps a drunk driver or... who's to say that they wouldn't pick her up off the road and dispose of her? - Cos I guess what we're saying is that... So, Joe could've been a willing participant in an activity that has led to her death. - Accidental drug overdose. - Someone could've seen that or been present when that happened, and rather than coming forward, has actually decided to dispose of her body so that no one ever will know what actually happened. Taking that a step further, I believe that she could have also got into a vehicle, someone that she felt safe with, someone she trusted. - Yes. - But not to say that then once she's with that person that the environment has potentially changed. - And everything points toward her meeting some sort of situation where possibly someone's got the better of her. - It's hard to escape the conclusion that something untoward happened to her that night. I think that, really, the only conclusion you left with is that someone's abducted her and killed her. - The Cold Case team firmly agree Joe has most likely been the victim of foul play. Can studying her victimology provide more detail? - She was 17. She would have had a sense of invincibility, feeling like she could do whatever she wanted. - LEN LELENI: I would have thought that she probably thought she had the right to walk wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted, without, sort of, any problem at all. - So she had a sense of confidence around being around at night alone. - And she's not worldly. A lot of very predatory men hanging around the city at night. - Being in that environment after midnight presents a reasonable risk for a young female walking around Auckland city. - Her interest in exploring some parts of herself may have also driven her to take some risks that maybe she may have calculated wrongly. At that age, it's very difficult to get those things exactly right. - I think she did socialise with quite a wide group, and I think she befriended different individuals at different times for different reasons. - A lot of those people that she was spending time with had a lot of history of drug and alcohol use and had a lot more experience in some of those things than she did. - If you were talking about probably coming across unsavoury characters while you're out socialising, she may not have had the skills to be able to deal with some of those sorts of things, despite the fact that she presented as if she could. - Basically still a schoolgirl. - Yeah. - Yeah. - But she was routinely putting herself in situations that might present as risk ` going to gigs where she might have been safe and she might have felt like she could manage her alcohol intake or her drug use, but with a lot of people attending those gigs that were unpredictable. I think we have to consider that because of the social choices, that does present as a moderate risk of her being a victim of crime. - It wouldn't have been unusual for a punk to be sort of singled out and, I guess, experience some aggression from people who didn't agree with what she stood for or how she dressed. - Was Joe a target? Confronted with few leads, the team re-evaluate the teenager's personal letters and police interviews. - A significant statement from the bartender who's at the gig at Auckland University, and he spent some time talking with Joe and describes that interaction in quite some detail. (PUNK MUSIC PLAYS) - LEN LELENI: They found her quite personable and quite coherent, but it was clear that her night was reasonably young; she was obviously looking for the next place to go to. - I think the statement from the barman who spent some time with Joe that night is really significant to the investigation. We know from his account that she's in a good mood, she's lucid, and she has intentions that she wants to stay out later that night. - I think it's quite likely that she might've wanted to go to another gig alone. - So she's open to... to the wilder side of life, if you like. And so it mightn't have been that hard for someone to cajole her into a car. - If people had offered her a ride and potentially offered to take her to another gig, I think she would have been motivated enough to get into a car with a with a stranger, with someone that she didn't know. - The dangers facing Joe that night was very real. Just by being a normal, adventurous teenager, she was exposed to all kinds of risks. Can you, the viewer, help pinpoint her movements that night? - So, if she has attended another gig that night, how did Joe get to that gig? What was Joe doing while she was there? Do you know who Joe left the gig with? - Unlike most investigations where detectives hone in on a scenario or offender, the Cold Case team is certain the answers in the Joe Chatfield case lie in broadening their inquiries. - It's that small piece of information that someone's sitting on that they don't think is relevant, that quite often breaks open a case. The reinvestigation is obviously bringing up new information that is starting to cast a wider net around the Auckland gig scene or the music scene. (PUNK MUSIC PLAYS) - Well, that was quite a large and quite a vibrant scene happening, and it was split into a whole lot of subtribes or sub groupings of music, I suppose. You had the more old-school stuff, like the Glue Pot and those sort of old rock and roll bands, Hello Sailors of the world and that sort of thing. And then you had a big dance thing happening in mostly around the centre of the city of a few clubs. And then you also had the alternative scene. The alternative had to split into several sub-scenes as well. It was like the hardcore punk scene going on. - So we're talking about hard punk, describe to me what that looks like. - Oh, loud, fast, heavy, guitar-based. You'd have, you know, riffing guitar, short songs, very energetic bands on stage, making very, very loud noises, yelling at the microphone, that sort of stuff. And, I mean, some of it was great; some of it was also just sheer noise. But the bands themselves tended to be, despite the fact they were making really aggressive music, they tended to be pussycats. But the crowds could get quite aggressive. - Some people in the punk scene did not talk to police in '88. But time and a recent $50,000 reward has prompted what could be a vital new lead. - As a result of the review of the investigation this year, that has brought to light some new information that there was another gig later that night. ConXions is a place that apparently was quite well known for live bands and particularly bands in the punk scene. - Different individuals have had conversations, and one of them has then come forward and said, 'OK, well, this is what I've heard ` that she may have been at this club,' and then came up with a poster. - This information about ConXions is incredibly important. It's another gig that's on the same night that Joe disappeared ` Saturday 19th of November, 1988. - Could Joe have gone or been on her way to ConXions when she went missing? One of her letters reveals that's a strong possibility. - So it's definitely a location that she's previously been associated with, - So she's familiar with it. - She's familiar with it. She's been there. She knows people there. She's looking at playing in a band there. - And, more importantly, Joe had previously written about the band performing at ConXions the same night she vanished. - So, we know that at ConXions that night, there was a band playing called The Warners. She definitely listens to their music, has followed them and previously seen their gigs. So there's a really strong possibility that that's a destination that she's looking at going to. - I saw that one as two or three times, right? They were quite a conservative punk band, but they were sort of band that would probably have trouble getting into a lot of venues too, like venues wouldn't necessarily want them to be playing cos of the crowd they might draw. Their crowd probably would have been the hardcore crowd, probably would have been more, sort of, bootboy. But once again, a lot of students. - And you've mentioned the term 'bootboys'. So what's a bootboy? - Well, bootboy's just a generic term, I suppose, for skinheads, and skinheads came in all varieties as well. You had, like, very mellow guys who just liked dressing that way and were into the music, but then you had this faction who latched on to the fact that they had steel-capped boots on, and there was a lot of violence at some of the clubs because of it. The gigs I always felt were more and more dangerous. Inside was incredibly safe, but outside, the people that weren't allowed into the venue could sometimes get out of control. - So, what sort of created this Warners band attract? I mean, who were their followers? - There's a common term 'bootboys', or skinheads. So we know that it's attracting that group of people. - That's a worry too, because they are particularly violent, those guys. - The question is ` A) did she get there or has something happened to her en route to that location? - So where exactly is ConXions? At the bottom of Albert St? - So we believe it's... - Corner of Albert and Wolfe. - ...Albert and Wolfe, eh? - Oh, yes. - So as part of the reinvestigation, we now know that there were a lot of other gigs going on in and around Auckland that night. We know that Joe used to go to gigs, historically, at ConXions, the Standard Club, and anywhere else where there was a gig that took her interest. - So do we know what other punk gigs were on that night around Auckland? - There's a possibility there was another gig that night at the Knox Hall, which we know is in Parnell. Now, there's obviously several different routes that she could have taken, but of interest if she had decided to go that way, one route that she may have taken us to actually go through the Auckland Domain. - And so she ventures out into the city, which, at that time, is being frequented by some very dangerous and sinister people. - Mm. - The Cold Case team has established Joe wanted to continue her night and was in walking distance to a number of venues she'd been to before. Travelling to any one of those could have exposed her to extreme risk. - Graham, you're there. You're the Senior Sergeant in Auckland City at that time. Let's talk through some of the predominant offences that are occurring in the area at that time. - Well, there were quite a few of them. It started, really, in the earlier '80s with a series of crimes that were committed by a guy called Mark Stephens, who was known as the Parnell Panther. And then we know also Malcolm Rewa. There was also Stephen Karl Collie, who was a businessman who started beating and raping prostitutes. And Joseph Thompson. He started raping people and was active for many years, and eventually got convicted of multiple, multiple charges of rape on a whole variety of people. Young girls are always going to be at risk if they're out and about in the city on their own. - The fact that she was likely alone walking in the CBD area, through areas where sex workers might have been working and walking around as well, it wouldn't be unusual for her to potentially have been mistaken for a sex worker. - Has she actually been approached by, you know, a sexual predator with ill intentions, and that's how the contact's been made, and she's potentially gotten into a car and been driven off to her death? - Mm. So there's a lot of people operating around the city at that time ` probably more than we ever dreamt were operating at the time. - Mm. - Having established the potential dangers in and around Auckland Central at that time, the team circle back to where Joe was last seen and unearth a terrifying event. - (WOMAN SCREAMS) - We know that a young female who attended the same gig as Joe that night was threatened by an armed offender who took her away from that gig, sexually assaulted her, before she returned to the gig. - So, what do we know about this possible attack at that same function that night? - We know the victim's actually left the physical location of the gig and gone downstairs to use the toilet. So she's separated from friends and associates, so she's vulnerable. - And from what I understand, at that point, he's grabbed her neck. He's also threatened to kill her if she didn't comply, so she's felt quite compelled to go with her. - Yeah. She was virtually dragged or compelled to go with him. - I think he's grabbed her from behind, back of the neck and arm, and just sort of marched. - That's pretty` That's pretty out there. That's serious offending. - Mm. And quite brazen. - Mm. That's very worrying. - Mm. We know he's come back to the gig, cos he's brought her back and basically walked off and left her. - And we've got that same scenario of Joe at the end of the gig. Here's a girl on her own, no one else around. And if that's the MO of that male offender, she's there right for his approach and subsequent offending. A concern for us as police is that if we have an offender who's brazen enough to attack a young woman at that gig, remove her from that gig, potentially, has he re-entered or returned to that gig and is still interested in pursuing his intent, which is to violently harm, sexually assault young females. - So she could've walked right into this guy's path. - Yep. - That's a possibility. And you've got to be thinking that it's a real possibility. - Mm. So that potentially puts a whole different complexion on things. - True. True. - And someone knows. Someone knows what happened to her. VOICEOVER: Wholegrains - aren't they great? That's why we put every single bit of these wholegrains into our snacks. Delicious. (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) - Over three decades ago, a free-spirited, intelligent young woman vanished without a trace. - You always have that hope that Joe will be found. - I guess it would just give me a sense of peace. - I want to find out what happened and where she is. - It didn't seem like Joe mattered as much as a normal teenager would matter. Mm. That hurt. Yeah, cos she mattered to us. You know, we wanted her back. We still want her back. (CHUCKLES) - Casting the net wider has given the Cold Case team real momentum. - The fact that she's likely been to other places, this information could produce some game changers here, because that means there are more people involved and that means there's more opportunity for information to come forward. - Definitely. - This opens a few more doors for us that would be worth opening and having a look and see what's behind them. - We want to know where did Joe go later that night, so we want to hear from people who were ConXions that night. We'd like to hear from people who worked at ConXions that night. She was known to ConXions. She was known in that music group. Anyone who we haven't already spoken to, even people who were at that university gig, that's the kind of people we wanna be hearing from. I still believe we can solve this case. Over time, sometimes people's memory gets refreshed or things that they didn't think were important to police at the time are still sitting on the back of their mind. So we're wanting people to come forward with any information that they have. Did you see The Warners play that night? - And also, if anybody had any photos of The Warners at ConXions that night, photos from the gig ` those things might also be helpful to us as well. - All those little titbits that you've got tucked away, I mean, may not mean anything to you but may mean a lot to us. - There may have been people who have been spoken to in the past by police and they may not have offered all the information they had. It actually could be the game changer. That's that one piece of information that's gonna open up this entire investigation, and it may result in us being able to find Joe. - And also people that may have been at the gig that at the time didn't wanna come forward because potentially they were under age or they may have been engaged in some other behaviours that they might not have wanted to come to police attention. - Yeah. And I mean, we have that conversation with people all the time. No matter what your behaviour was, your insecurities, your inhibitions were at that time, Joe's bigger than all this. There's a bigger thing out here, and it's about getting closure... - GRAHAM BELL: Yes. - ...for Joe's family. - LEN LELENI: It's all about just trying to sort out what happened to Joe. - That's looking at that age group back then that would now be their late 40s. - Mm. - And, well, hey, you know, if it was your daughter, wouldn't you wanna know what happened? - Exactly. - Yep. - So you're talking 30 years. So if you didn't have kids then, you certainly have kids now, and the one thing that I know about that is that when you have children, everything changes. And so your compassion for kids and just understanding the mum's position, Claire, I'm sure it sort of motivates you on its own to be able to wanna get in touch with us if they know something. - It's highly likely after that` after the passage of so much time that somebody has unloaded some information to somebody else... - Yep. - ...That needs to be unloaded to us, basically. - Yeah. - And that would be the key to unlocking the whole thing. - Yeah. I mean, everything that you've just said and everything that I've read about Joe, she's a pretty neat kid, and she's someone that you'd probably wanna have in your camp. She'd have your back, and she'd fight for you. - The guts of this is that she was not on her own that night at the end. She was with somebody. Somebody knows what's happened to her or who she was with. All we need is the tiniest sliver of information that is gonna set us on a path that's going to bring all of those fantastic tools into operation, and someone is going to answer for her disappearance. Captions by Julie Taylor. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020