The Raukūmara Range is rugged, dense — and the last place Omaio man Jason Butler was seen alive in October 2021.
The 50-year-old was on unsanctioned work experience with a Department of Conservation contractor.
The family was told Butler was filing his drink bottle at a river when the contractor left to continue his pest control work.
The contractor emerged from the bush alone the next day — and the alarm wasn't raised until four days later.
"We still don't really know what happened," his sister, Huia Mackley, said. "We don't know where he is."
She sent an email to police in November, asking for a progress update on the investigation.
It wasn't until March 20 she got a response, saying, "significant staffing issues" meant there had been no further progress, adding "we have lost a number of staff for various reasons".
"Sadly," the response concluded, "there is no other available resource in the Eastern BOP."
"What happens now?" Huia says. "Where do we go, the police can't complete their investigation because they don't have resources."
In a statement to 1News, Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Wilson said the investigation into the disappearance of Jason Butler "remains active" and "planning remains underway for a scene examination and additional search phases".
However, he said "Eastern Bay of Plenty CIB has been dealing with a higher-than-usual workload driven by gang-related crime. This includes several homicides involving gang members."
This has been especially prevalent in parts of the region such as Ōpōtiki.
The Police Minister said the resourcing situation should improve in time but it was up to police leaders on the ground to decide where best to concentrate efforts.
"We've obviously announced an additional 500 new police officers over the next two years," says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. "But in terms of where they're deployed and how they're deployed, that is an operational matter".
Shortly before he went missing, Butler had been in Whakatāne Hospital under the Mental Health Act.
A Serious Incident Review by Te Whatu Ora stated that, at discharge, he showed no suicidal intent. The health agency has since described his disappearance as a suspected suicide.
"To these agencies, to the Government, to the Police... he's just a statistic, a number to them," his sister Huia, said.
Former Detective Inspector Lance Burdett said there needed to be some accountability.
"Two years, still not knowing what's happened,
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