A Long Time Ago And No Solution: The Unsolved Murder Of Jane Furlong, NZ.

While we sleep the streets of our countries have their own life. Many of us have had a toe in the world of drug crime and sex work. Sometimes without us even knowing it. The clubs we visit and the hotels we stay in can have another dimension, one we brush past on the stairs or shoulder at the bar.

Auckland is in bold on the north island. The spot where Ms Furlong was found is 90 km (55 miles) to the south west.

Jayne Furlong was only 17 years old when she died. She was working part time in the sex trade in Auckland, New Zealand. On 26th May 1993 she disappeared from Karangahape Rd. It was 19 years before her remains were uncovered from the sand of Sunset Beach. This spot is about an hour long drive south-west of the city.

Sunset Beach. The area her remains were found is approximately where the green marker is on this Google image.

The atmosphere that surrounds the death of this young woman drips with street crime in various forms. You have drug money being owed, a good suspect who is a convicted rapist and tales of bouncer types leading women off into the sand dunes.

There is a lot of print and film about what happened to this petite teenager. It remains an open case. The link to the NZ police web page is below.

The last sighting, according to them, was at about 8.30 pm. Ms Furlong was seen near a place she worked at that was called Rendells. She may well have been seen later near a massage parlour. She is described as looking scared.

The spot where her remains were found was near Port Waikato. Associates of Ms Furlong had connections with a holiday place there.

This lady is described in various places as a part time sex worker. I know Rendells was a retail store.

The Rendells building is on your left with the two tone design. This is a 2012 picture of ‘K Road’ .

At the time Ms Furlong disappeared she was involved in no less that three court cases as a witness. Two of them were about violence and another concerned a man charged with assaulting women. It sounds like a lively area back then.

If you know anything, and all the years have meant you can now talk, please contact Auckland Police on the link below.

Thanks

Nina

Another North Island lady who also met her fate in the sands was Diana Leafa. Ms Leafa was killed in 2002 though where she was last seen, and later found, was over 445 km (230 miles) from Auckland.

https://www.police.govt.nz/stolenwanted/coldcase/2019/jane-furlong-1993

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/police-reviewing-critical-period-jane-furlong-cold-case