Missing man’s dog walks out of bush with bloody paws
Missing man’s dog walks out of bush with bloody paws
Waikato Times, Avina Vidyadharan, January 4, 2024
Jordan van Deursen’s dog Bahgo’s return after the duo went missing in October has sparked a new hope for the family.
CHRISTEL YARDLEY / WAIKATO TIMES
Jordan van Deursen’s dog Bahgo has returned home after the duo went missing in the bush near Whangamatā over nine weeks ago.
But there’s still no sign of the Waihī man.
Van Deursen’s family received a phone call about Bahgo on New Year’s Eve and it brought up strong emotions and renewed hope.
The Jack Russell terrier had turned up at the house on Wires Rd in Hikutaia on December 30 and the family took him in.
“He was very thin and his paws were bleeding,” they said.
Van Deursen, 29, and Bahgo were last seen on October 29, after failing to return from a planned trip to the Wentworth Valley, near Whangamatā.
The friend said the 4WD Maratoto track and Old Wires track connected the western side to Wentworth Valley on the other side of the range so Bahgo might have travelled from there - a 6.5km walk.
For van Deursen’s family, his disappearance was a mystery because there were no signs at all, the friend told the Times.
“It was like something had just come along and whip them off the earth.”
Jordan van Deursen, 29, and his dog were last seen on October 29, after failing to return from a planned trip to the Wentworth Valley region, near Whangamatā.
CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF / WAIKATO TIMES
Every time someone would come up with a scenario, the question “but what about the dog?” always followed.
“It didn't make sense and now maybe we've just got this little part of the puzzle that we can perhaps make a little bit more sense.
“If only dogs could talk, he'd have a story and a half to tell.”
A large-scale rescue operation was launched on November 1 with over 30 personnel from police, LandSAR, Fire and Emergency and the local community scouring “thick” and “rugged” terrain that was also riddled with mine shafts.
However, police suspended the search after three weeks, due to lack of any sign of van Deursen.
“Police, LandSAR and canyon teams have covered an extensive search of the Wentworth Valley catchment and surrounding areas where we hoped Jordan and his dog would be,” a police spokesperson said at the time.
The friend said it was clear van Deursen had gone off the track and was perhaps “hurt or lost or both, who knows?”
“It's incredible that the dog’s come out after nine weeks.
“It just gives us a little bit more hope in being able to find Jordan and bring him home and probably where he came out, it gives us another area to be looking at which was further out than the area that they initially searched.”
A large-scale rescue operation was launched on November 1 to find Jordan van Deursen with over 30 personnel from police, LandSAR, Fire and Emergency. However, police suspended the search after three weeks, due to lack of clues.
CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF / WAIKATO TIMES
Van Deursen had gone on walks often with his dog and was devoted to him, the friend said.
“If Bahgo took off after anything, apparently there's pigs up there around the other side of the waterfall, he could easily have gone and chased a pig or a rat or a possum or anything and Jordan has taken off after him.
“We really feel that's the case.”
The friend said there were a lot of people, directly or indirectly, helping to search for van Deursen - including someone from up north with a tracker dog that spent nearly a week tramping in the bush.
A group was going out on horseback on Friday with their tracker dogs.
“People just really want to help.”