Fifty years to the day after 18-year-old hitchhiker Mona Blades went missing while travelling from Hamilton to Hastings, police say they are still receiving a “steady stream” of tips and information from the public.
On the morning of May 31, 1975, Blades hopped into the back of an orange Datsun station wagon and was never heard from again.
The cold case into the suspected murder, one of New Zealand’s most notorious, remains open.
Not one piece of physical evidence has ever been found, and her body was never located.
But Detective Senior Sergeant Ryan Yardley says, five decades later, police are continuing to seek information regarding her disappearance.
Blades’ disappearance was the subject of an episode of TVNZ’s Cold Case in 2018, and Yardley said a “steady stream” of information had been coming in from members of the public since.
“The information is assessed and reviewed as it is received for potential further lines of inquiry, which police can follow up on.”
He said no case is ever fully closed, “and it is not too late to provide Mona’s family with answers they have long wanted”.
Noting the anniversary of her disappearance, Yardley said: “It has been 50 years since Mona went missing in 1975, and we would like to acknowledge her family who have been left with a number of questions around her disappearance.”
The sightings, suspects, and speculation
On the day she disappeared, she was dropped off on Cambridge Road (State Highway 1), Hamilton, early in the morning. She was wearing light green slacks, a green rugby jersey under a fawn jersey, a black duffle coat and brown shoes with yellow laces.
Fifty years missing: Revisiting one of NZ’s most chilling cold cases – Watch on TVNZ+
She was carrying a hitchhiker’s brown pack and shoulder bag containing a set of colourful plastic tumblers as a birthday present for her nephew, who she was planning to visit in Hastings over the Queen’s Birthday weekend as a surprise for his birthday.
At around 10am she was seen getting into the back of the orange Datsun.
Later that morning, a fencing contractor spotted the vehicle parked about 200 metres down a dirt road off the Napier-Taupō highway.
He claimed to have seen a woman matching Blades’ description in the back, with a middle-aged man in the front. When he drove past a short time later, the car was empty.
Blades’ disappearance sparked what was, at the time, one of the country’s largest manhunts.
Hundreds of police officers from Taupō, Rotorua, Hamilton and Auckland combed a 200km stretch of highway between Tokoroa and Napier.
But nothing was ever found.
More than 500 suspects, many of whom owned or had driven orange Datsuns, were investigated.
Auckland police tried to make the case that John Freeman, a man who had rented an orange Datsun the same weekend Blades went missing, was responsible. Two weeks after police announced they were searching for a similar car, Freeman shot and wounded a student at St Cuthbert’s College in Auckland before killing himself.
Another person of interest for police was Hamilton man Charlie Hughes, who had since moved to Australia. He has vehemently denied he had anything to do with the alleged murder, and said the constant doubt over his innocence ruined his life.
In 2003, police investigated a report that Blades’ name had been etched on a concrete garage floor at a house in Huntly with fears it could be a makeshift grave. it turned out to be a joke and the former property owner apologised.
In early 2012, police dug up the concrete floor of a Kawerau house’s laundry room in an attempt to find her body. Nothing was found.
Blades’ disappearance was then the subject of a 2018 episode of TVNZ’s Cold Case, where investigators reassessed every aspect of the file.
Experts believed the original investigation had focused too heavily on the orange Datsun. They also believed witnesses may have been misled by the photo of Blades issued by police as her hairstyle was different.
The investigation also concluded Blades spent longer in Taupō than initially thought, with multiple sightings being made.
Inspector Mark Loper, who led the inquiry then, believed Blades did not leave Taupō alive.
Detectives also said they had discovered Blades had some links to gangs in Auckland and Hamilton. Those gangs might have been on the roads travelling to a gathering that weekend.
A red car that could have been travelling with a bike gang was also a focus of the new inquiry. A witness had claimed they saw Blades get into a red Toyota station wagon outside the bottle shop at the Spa Hotel. Another said they saw two people carrying a rolled-up piece of carpet into the back of a vehicle matching the description.
However, despite a steady stream of tips and possible leads, no physical evidence, suspects able to be charged, or body have been found.
It’s now been 50 years since Blades left Hamilton, and her family, as well as police, are still waiting for answers.
Sgt Yardley said this week: “If you have information that may assist in our investigation not yet reported to us, please contact police.”
Anyone with information on the disappearance of Mona Blades was asked to call police on 105.
