A poignant walk remembers a young boy who died in mysterious circumstances in Gore. Today he would have turned six years old.
On a clear autumn afternoon in the Southland town of Gore, a group of around 50 people gather on the footpath outside a small playground on quiet Salford Street.
They travel down the road before turning right, passing through a tall open gate and onto a gravel road until they reach the edge of a large wastewater oxidation pond.
This ‘Walk for Lachie’ is the same 1.2km route three-year-old Lachlan Jones was presumed to have wandered on a hot summer’s night before being found unresponsive hours later.
A police dog and his handler discovered the boy’s body face up in the water late that night on January 29, 2019. His little replica police hat, which he loved to wear, sat on the bank nearby. He would have turned six years old today.
It’s a case that has been hanging over this provincial Southland town. Police concluded it was a tragic accident, but Lachie’s father Paul Jones remains unconvinced. He says the original police case was inadequate and left too many questions unanswered.
Could Lachie have walked that distance barefoot across rough terrain and over fencing, in a full nappy and with no one stopping him? Why did he have no markings on his feet despite the prickly grass and coarse gravel?
People in the crowd ask these questions to one another as they travel the same route. “How could a boy of that age walk that far?” asks one. Another notes the time of how long it takes him to walk the distance.
‘Something’s not right’
Jones and the event’s organiser, Paul Bridgman, walk at the front of the group as they make their way to the place Lachie’s body was found.
The Gore District Council gave permission for the walk, and made sure the pond gates were opened for the event, but the walkers have to stay on the right side of a 1.8m high deer fence, which was erected around the two large ponds after Lachie’s death.
They reach the spot where Lachie was found.
Bridgman, a Gore local, had never met Paul Jones, but says he approached the father with the idea to travel the same route Lachie was meant to have taken.
“I’ve had children myself and I’ve got grandchildren and it’s something that’s bloody horrific to lose someone that way,” Bridgman tells Newsroom. “And I just really can’t understand how a three-year-old boy could actually do that and end up where he did.”
He said he hasn’t made up his mind whether Lachie walked there or not, and wanted to satisfy his curiosity by walking it himself.
Jones addresses the crowd with a short speech, thanking everyone for coming and inviting them for a drink afterwards at the local pub, Traffers.
He tells Newsroom he is grateful for the support the community has shown him.
“I’m really happy people are still talking. That’s the whole point. No one could believe that he walked here,” he says. “People know something’s not right.”
New investigation
Following an in-depth Newsroom investigation late last year, Gore police announced officers would be brought in from another district to relook at the case.
This fresh investigation, led by Southern District Investigations Detective Inspector Stu Harvey, has so far included interviewing and re-interviewing witnesses, visiting locations of interest and talking to staff at the funeral home where Lachie was taken.
Jones and his good friend Karen McGuire say they are heartened by the recent police efforts, and hope for some more answers soon.
“I do feel the energy has shifted and they’re doing something now. I don’t think we could be more happy with the efforts Stu and his team are putting in,” says McGuire.
Jones will unveil Lachie’s headstone in a private ceremony at the graveside he still visits every day. There will be birthday cake, and Jones will be thinking about the birthday party Lachie might have wanted.
Meanwhile, a date has been set in a court case taken by Worksafe against the Gore council over Lachie’s death.
The council has pleaded not guilty to the charges under three sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act for failing to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the oxidation ponds were safe. The case is scheduled to begin in July.
Whatever the outcome of the court case and the new police investigation, Paul Jones just wants answers, and says he won’t stop pushing until he gets them.
“My little boy was my world. He meant everything to me. I won’t stop until I get the answers.”
Jones has also hired a private investigator, who he says is continuing his inquiries and following up leads.
