The Missing

Taking steps towards easing the heartache - Mondays, 8.30pm TV One

TV reviewer Victoria Guild likes the respectful attitude of a new series.

Connan Bolitho disappeared in April 1991. The 21-year-old went for a tramp between Arthur's Pass and Aoraki-Mt Cook and never came out.

While we have to assume he is dead, without a body the family still have questions that have never been answered.

The Missing (Monday nights on TV One) is looking into eight cases of disappearance in New Zealand. Apparently, there are about 250 official unsolved cases of missing people here, but only one person working in this country's Missing Persons Bureau.

An extensive search was carried out for Connan, but after a couple of sightings of a tramper turned out to be someone else and the weather worsened, the search was called off.

The Missing began building up an image of Connan by having his family and those close to him talk about the kind of person he was. We heard that he liked to climb from an early age, and later joined the New Zealand Alpine Club. By the time he was 21, he was an accomplished climber and well used to New Zealand's rugged conditions. He carried all the necessary gear, and had left clear instructions if he failed to show by a certain time. This wasn't a guy who went off willy-nilly and made stupid decisions. He even took stamps with him in case he passed someone going the other way who could post a letter when they reached a town.

His mother Elaine recounted how on April 16, after he had been gone for two weeks, she felt unsettled. She said she heard a voice saying that Connan wasn't coming back. He was declared missing, presumed dead, on Mother's Day.

It was deeply moving, perhaps more so because of the unadorned way the story was told. Connan's dad, Ian, inspecting the hut book where he made his last entry and taking photos of the beautiful landscape which in all likelihood had become his son's resting place, was afforded a respect so often lacking in shows that try to ramp up the emotional factor.

There were no teasers for "after the break" or unnecessary recapping of the story when the programme returned. There were also no psychics informing us they could see a lot of mountains and it was cold.

I began to wonder how they were going to stretch Connan's disappearance in the bush to a full hour. With no suggestion of foul play, how long could it take to investigate, and how much more could be done to find any trace of him?

How times have changed, even in the 18 years since Connan went missing.

Tasman's own search organiser, Sherp Tucker, explained the techniques now used to search for missing trampers. They are profiled to see if there is anything in their behaviour leading up to the tramp that could hint at an intention to disappear. The profile also helps to establish what kind of person they are and what decisions they might make if faced with a bad turn in the weather, for example. This gives the searchers a better idea of where to look.

In Connan's case, there was a suggestion early on that he might have intended to commit suicide because he was a bit depressed and had sold his car and quit his job. He was also going cold turkey off caffeine tablets, but the suicide theory was discounted after a sleep doctor suggested that the worst of the withdrawal would have been over by the time he reached his last hut.

The searchers went back armed with far more knowledge than those in 1991, and immediately narrowed down some sites. A piece of bone was found (animal), and a food pack. A dog trained to sense anything man-made also honed in on one spot.

The food pack turned out to be a significant find, as it contained a type of Chinese noodles that Connan's friend said they favoured in their packs at the time. It also had an Easter egg wrapper in it, and it was Easter when Connan went missing. The food pack was found upstream of the dog's indicated spot, and the programme said a more full search of that area would be carried out once the weather improved later this year.

The Missing doesn't fail as a show if it doesn't find the person. It is told in such a way that you are drawn in to the family's pain, and it becomes compelling, if ultimately sad, viewing. While not yet giving Connan's family any final answers, they felt they were a step closer to closure - something you can never get while someone is still tagged as missing.

• Coming up: If you're a parent, particularly of young children, don't miss The Politically Incorrect Guide to Parenting (Wednesday nights, TV One). Child psychologist Nigel Latta dishes up the dirt on "perfect" parenting, worrying too much and wrapping our kids in cotton wool. He does it with common sense, humour and very little wringing of hands. Invaluable.

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