'Always put others before herself': Husband praises hero camper who warned others after body formally identified
Friday, 30 January 2026
The body of the hero camper who alerted others to danger at the Mt Maunganui campground before the deadly landslide has been recovered and formally identified.
Morrinsville teacher Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50, was the third victim to have been formally identified.
She had been one of the six people who was presumed dead after a massive landslide swept through the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park last week.
Evidence was presented by Detective Sergeant Brent Griffiths at the Tauranga Moana District Court on Friday.
Griffiths said the body was found Tuesday.
Coroner Heather McKenzie formally confirmed the identity of Lisa at the hearing.
Lisa was hailed a hero because of her efforts to warn other campers of impending danger after a small slip hit her campervan hours before the fatal landslide.
According to Lance Macfarlane who was tenting next to Lisa’s campervan, she tried to warn him and others after a small slip had hit her camper.
Macfarlane said that Lisa had said the mud hitting her campervan had felt like an “earthquake”.
“She told me if she didn’t wake me up and warn us and then something happened, that it would forever be in the back of her mind.”
Her husband, Travis, released a statement on Friday saying Lisa was “a cherished daughter, mother, aunty, sister, grandmother (Nan Nan) and wife.
“And we all loved her dearly.”
“Lisa was very spontaneous and adventurous. She was always looking for new things to do and would never shy away from a challenge,” said Travis.
Her husband said she was fully devoted to her job as a learning assistant and loved working with young people that had challenges in their learning.
“Lisa always had the best interests of others at the front of her mind, and she would always put others before herself. She was incredibly selfless and would often sacrifice things for other people,” he said.
Travis said Lisa didn’t like attention, but always worked hard in the background to help others succeed.
“She was loving, humble, loyal and we are going to miss her immensely.”
Stuff earlier revealed Lisa’s two sons lost both their biological parents after Lisa’s first husband died in 2018. She subsequently remarried Travis Maclennan who is the boys’ stepfather.
The pair were well known in the Morrinsville theatre community. A member has set up a Givealittle page to support the family saying, “Lisa's heroic efforts made such a difference during this utter tragedy”.
Lisa was a literacy centre tutor at Morrinsville Intermediate School and her Travis, who managed to escape, taught at Cambridge Middle School.
Earlier in the week, the identities of Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20, and Max Furse-Key, 15, were formally confirmed.
The other three victims that remain are Sharon Maccanico, Susan Doreen Knowles and Jacqualine Suzanne Wheeler.
Recovery and identification a lengthy and complex task
The recovery and identification of the bodies form parts of the disaster victim identification process (DVI).
Recovering and identifying deceased can be a lengthy and complex task, and the time taken to complete the DVI process can be impacted by the number of deceased and the nature and location of the death(s).
The Coroner’s Court said that correct identification was required for legal reasons, such as criminal proceedings and the administration of estates.
New Zealand follows Interpol’s four-step DVI process, which uses both post-mortem and ante-mortem data to help identify the deceased.