Missing for a fortnight: 'The chances of finding her alive are small'
Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Every day without fail, Gary Nicholls and his wife Elisabeth walked their favourite central Christchurch routes ‒ through the Botanic Gardens, along the Avon River, sometimes with a stroll past North Hagley Park or the nearby Millbrook Reserve.
It is those same places that Michael Nicholls, known as Gary, has combed endlessly for the past fortnight since his wife of almost 60 years disappeared.
Elisabeth ‘Lis’ Nicholls, who has dementia, left the Margaret Stoddart retirement village about 6pm on June 4. She had been admitted for a short stay just hours earlier. Over the past year, her dementia had gotten progressively worse and she was recommended for respite-level care.
She was last seen on CCTV footage at 7.54pm at the Chateau on the Park hotel, 550m from the rest home on Bartlett St, Riccarton. The police have had no leads since then.
“We have to be realistic,” Gary told The Press.“The chances of finding her alive are rather small now.”
Given his wife’s dementia it was hard to know how she felt about going to Margaret Stoddart that day, Gary said. Overall, she seemed happy enough.
He had been out searching alone this week, but said he got regular updates from police, search and rescue and Ryman Healthcare, which operates Margaret Stoddart rest home. All had been, “very helpful”.
“I can’t think of anything else that can be done,” he said. “I’m just grateful to anyone and everyone. I know so many people out there have been looking for her.”
Lis and Gary were married in Wellington in 1967. Lis, a former nurse and social worker, always held others at the front of her mind, Gary said. “She’s warm, caring for others…and very bright. She got her social work degree with first class honours.”
Her disappearance came during the two coldest weeks in Christchurch this year.
A week after she vanished, police held a press conference pleading for help. Detective Sergeant Lucy Aldridge said they had grave concerns for Lis’ wellbeing and next to no leads.
“I’m asking members of the public to please search your backyards, sheds and sleep outs, and look under anything where a person could seek shelter,” she said.
On Tuesday, police said staff were reviewing all the information reported to them and rechecking areas. “Sadly no updates to provide at this stage,” a spokesperson said. Several electronic billboards across the city now displayed the appeal information, reiterating the call to the public to help. Police said the billboard owners had provided the space for free.
Margaret Stoddart provides rest home-level care and its residents are free to come and go. Nicholls was assessed by Te Whatu Ora as being suitable for such care. “[Te Whatu Ora] assess their needs and our contracts with them sets out the level of care to be provided,” a Ryman spokesperson said.
Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora) said it could not discuss the specifics of an individual’s care. Te Waipounamu regional commissioner Chiquita Hansen said they would work with Ryman to look into what happened with Lis, as was standard practice.
“We are very concerned for Elisabeth, in what must be a truly distressing time for her and her loved ones. Our thoughts are with them all, and we have been assured by Ryman they are providing Elisabeth's family with appropriate support and working closely with police.”
Questions have since emerged about what more can be done by the aged care sector to protect its residents.
Former Ryman Healthcare chief executive Simon Challies said locking a dementia patient down in a unit was reserved for the most serious cases. “In most circumstances that can be very distressing for the family and they don’t want to be locked up.”
Health specialists were also reluctant to take such measures. In Nicholls case, given she was only at Margaret Stoddart for a few hours, its staff would not have been familiar with her, Challies said.
“[She] would be supervised to a degree,” he said. “But older people may go to great lengths to escape. These are terrible circumstances and people may not understand exactly how the system works.
“It’s worth remembering that lots of people with dementia are living every day in our community.”
GPS tracking sounded like a good idea, but Challies said he had never seen it used. “There’s a reluctance to restrain people and that’s effectively what it does.”
The technology had not been implemented universally overseas or in New Zealand.
“There’s also no easy alternative. The least invasive is to have facilities set up and visual cues for when a person is trying to leave.
“Beyond that, there are no guarantees.”
The Ryman spokesperson said the company was open to the use of GPS-tracker wristbands or similar technology in aged care. “This is not currently covered by our contracts. Any decision would need to be discussed in detail with Health New Zealand, including arrangements for funding.”
Lis was last seen at 6.01pm on June 4. At 6.20pm, rest home staff became aware she may have left and started searching the village. Police were contacted at 7.41pm. The last known sighting of Lis was the CCTV footage at the Chateau on the Park at 7.54pm.
At the time, she was wearing a black and gray checkered long sleeve shirt, a maroon long sleeve top, navy blue jeans and black leather shoes. She has distinctive long blond/white hair.
Gary won’t stop looking until she’s found.