Beckenridge case: Friend says missing boy contacted him on Minecraft

A close friend of missing Invercargill boy Mike Zhao-Beckenridge believes he tried to contact him on a gaming site months after he disappeared with his stepfather.

The pair went missing eight years ago, and the 11-year-old's family believe it was the only way he could reach out, although police have ruled out the possibility.

The contact took place in a Minecraft chatroom, eight months after the Beckenridges' car careened off a cliff in the Catlins.

Detective Jeremy Dix, CIB, told the court: "The friend advised police that he was contacted by a person he believed to be Mike Beckenridge via an online computer game named Minecraft. The alleged contact occurred on a server by the name of Cosmic.

"The friend believed this contact to be from Mike as the person asked for a username that only the friend and Mike knew of."

But the contact ended there. Their last proper communication had been in the days before Mike was picked up from school, with the officer telling the court "nothing was said by Mike about running away with John".

However, police have ruled out the possibility the fleeting contact on Minecraft came from Mike.

"We don't accept the only person who knew his friend's username was Mike," the lawyer for the police Deirdre Elsmore said.

But Mike's family feel sure it was him. Their private investigator Mark Templeman said based on the friend's evidence "there's only one other person that knew that name and the police inquiries haven't resolved as far as I can see".

"We think there's a very strong possibility it is Mike Beckenridge reaching out. I haven't heard anything that contradicts that."

Peter Russell, the partner of Mike's mother, added: "If Mike was in a situation where he was feeling he would like to talk to his friend — and he was very, very close — he might have just done it on the spur of the moment."

"If John walked in, I know exactly what Mike's reaction would be."

The coroner’s hearing will conclude on Friday.