Bones, boots mystery never solved

The mystery of a foot and boot discovered near Dunedin almost 75 years ago will go to the grave unsolved.

Among the human remains collection of the New Zealand Police Museum in Porirua is a brown leather boot and foot bones discovered near Merton, about 25km north of Dunedin, in 1940.

The museum, which opened in 1908, collected remains of 37 people up until 1957 for training detectives.

Now, following a three-year project, the museum is returning the remains to their next of kin and burying those which remain unidentified.

The foot and boot were found by a pig hunter in a gully in the Kiatoa Estate in November 1940.

He took it to Waitati police station and detectives went with him to the scene and recovered another boot and most of the bones of a human body, but could not find the skull.

The bones were strewn about and some were partly buried. However, the identity of who they came from was unclear.

The coroner ruled ''no inquest necessary'' into the identity of the bones and the cause of death, and directed police to dispose of them at their discretion.

Then Detective Tom Howard, of Dunedin, forwarded the bones to Ted Hotham, who was in charge of police training at Trentham, along with a letter.

''I consider it would a most interesting exhibit for a lecture to young detectives to demonstrate points to look for in assisting to determine the length of time a body may have laid on the surface, compared with one which had been buried and recently dug or washed up,'' his letter said.

Museum director Rowan Carroll said research had traced next of kin for three of the remains and identified a further three.

However, the identity of the foot and boot remained unsolved.

Miss Carroll said she believed the identity of the mysterious victim was David Duncan Smith, who went missing from Waikouaiti in 1927.

''There was no flesh on the foot,'' she said.

''It had been out in the sun and there had been a fire through the area.''

She first suspected the remains were those of a patient who had escaped the nearby Seacliff Lunatic Asylum.

But an inventory of those who had escaped from the asylum from 1920 to 1940 found that all escapees were recovered.

''The [Police] Gazettes were then used to identify any local people who had gone missing and were never discovered,'' she said.

''The researcher looked beyond 1940 to ensure any missing people did not turn up alive later through to the end of published Police Gazettes.

''One man was not accounted for - Smith, David Duncan; missing from Waikouaiti, 15 September, 1927.''

At the time of his disappearance, Mr Smith was aged 30, about 167cm in height, with black curly hair and was wearing a grey suit and hat.

His wife, Martha Smith, was ''very concerned about his welfare'', Miss Carroll said.

Mr and Mrs Smith married in March 1922.

He was born in Arbroath, Scotland, and was a seaman.

The pair had no children and, therefore, DNA could not be used to conclusively determine the identity of the bones in the boot, Miss Carroll said.

''It's quite sad,'' she said.

Mrs Smith died, aged 45, in 1946. However, a police museum researcher was unable to find the location of her grave.

The remains of the skeleton in the boot would be cremated and join those of the other unidentified victims held by the museum in a memorial in Makara Cemetery, in Wellington.

''New Zealand leads the way in repatriating human remains from overseas with great dignity and respect,'' she said.

''It's time police did the same for the 37 individuals we've had in our care.''

The collection was removed from display in the museum in the 1990s and held in storage ever since.

Returning the remains was ''simply the right thing to do'', she said.

''These people were victims, of a crime or an accident. It's not necessary, or ethical, for us to continue to retain samples from these victims.''

timothy.brown@odt.co.nz