Marlborough woman's family seeks counselling as Good Friday marks one month missing

Wednesday, 24 April 2019

More than a month after Jessica Boyce was last seen, pulling out the driveway in her mother's red ute, some of her family are seeking counselling to cope with her disappearance.

Jessica Boyce's mother Kay Johnstone said the family was stuck between 'grieving or waiting', and she had reached out to doctors about getting mental health help for some family members.

Boyce's cousin Aaron Goodwin, who was back in Dunedin, said he was having trouble sleeping since Boyce went missing.

Kay Johnstone, mother of missing Marlborough woman Jessica Boyce, stands in front of the red ute Boyce took to Lake Chalice. A missing person's poster sits in the ute's window.

He said he was on a waiting list with the Southland District Health Board to see a counsellor, but he had also text a mental health line three times since she disappeared.

**READ MORE:

The family of Renwick woman Jessica Boyce, 27, is concerned for her wellbeing.

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Boyce's family have set up the website 'Help Find Jess' so the public can submit anonymous tips.

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'This isn't a normal situation. This would be the first time all of the people involved in this search have been through anything like this, and it's not healthy to keep things bottled up,' Goodwin said.

'It's like a rollercoaster. There are times where you think she can't have survived for this long and you start, not thinking in past tense, but thinking that it's hopeless.

'Then, someone makes an anonymous tip to the website, or someone says there's a sighting here, and you then think, 'Oh great she's been there'.'

Boyce was last seen on March 19. The red Holden ute was found three days later near Lake Chalice, in Mount Richmond Forest Park, 90 minutes west of Blenheim.

Family say the 27-year-old is fond of outdoor areas.

Her wallet and phone were found inside the vehicle, but the phone was missing its sim card. Police and LandSAR searched the forest park and its huts but suspended their efforts on March 26 until more information came forward.

Boyce's family later turned their attentions to Nelson and Motueka in case Boyce had travelled over there.

Jessica Boyce's cousin Aaron Goodwin, left, and Boyce's friend Sharmaine Aberhart-Thompson with a poster of the missing Renwick woman.

Goodwin said the constant 'up and down' was not healthy.

'One moment, you're mourning, and in the next, there's a glimmer of hope. It's crazy. It's like getting bad news and good news many times a day,' he said.

The 27-year-old was last seen on March 19.

Goodwin did have access to three free counselling sessions through his polytech course, but had failed his studies while searching for Boyce across the top of the south, he said.

Goodwin had requested counselling through his doctor and was told he would hear from a counsellor in six weeks.

A missing person's poster of Boyce at Watery Mouth Cafe, in Blenheim.

The family claimed earlier this month Boyce, 27, was turned away from the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board's Mental Health Service in Blenheim weeks before she disappeared.

Johnstone said it was hard to even leave the house.

'We can't close the book as the book is halfway through. We're still in a state of shock. It's still hard to believe she's not just going to walk down the driveway.'

'We just don't know what's happening. We're not sure if we're grieving or waiting. It's stuffed up our lives a bit.'

The family was also looking for an organisation that helped people with missing family members, but had not found one.

'Getting counselling is all good, but talking to other families who've gone through the same thing that what we've gone through would be good too,' Johnstone said.

Johnstone said the family in Blenheim got together for a pizza night on Good Friday to mark one month since Boyce went missing.

Goodwin said he marked the date in Dunedin with some 'personal reflection', and renewed social media efforts.

Goodwin set up the website 'Help Find Jess' on behalf of the family earlier this month so people could write in anonymously.

He also encouraged donations to the Marlborough LandSAR team, in the hope they could add thermal imaging to their searches in future.

A police spokeswoman said on Tuesday police were still receiving information about possible sightings and were following those up.

To date, no sightings had come to fruition, she said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Blenheim police on 03 578 5279. Alternatively, anonymous tips can be passed on to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

People wanting to talk to a trained counsellor could call or text 1737.