Monday, May 6
Witnesses have described the mother of a missing 3-year-old as "distraught" and "hysterical".
Coroner Alexander Ho’s inquest into the 2019 death of Lachie Jones continued in Invercargill this week.
Police quickly concluded the boy had drowned after he was found face up in an oxidation pond over a kilometre away from his home in Gore.
Numerous neighbours including the then girlfriend of Lachie’s half-brother were in the witness box and talked about joining the search for the missing boy.
About 8.30pm, the toddler’s mother, Michelle Officer, asked neighbour Lorraine Marston and her husband to help look for Lachie.
"She was distraught, absolutely beside herself, like. You could hardly tell what she was saying," Ms Marston said.
Cameron Scott’s then girlfriend, Sequoia Barrow, was also with Ms Officer, who she said was "hysterical" that night.
"It was pretty horrific," Ms Barrow said.
"Lachie was the biggest part of her life; she did everything for him."
Neighbour Kimberley Marshall was with Ms Officer when she first heard her son was dead.
"When she was told that he was dead, her legs gave [out] and she had to be held up and she just wailed ... it was a cry I’d never heard before," Ms Marshall said before breaking down in tears.
She explained Ms Officer had been panicked since Lachie went missing.
"She was all over the show. She was a mess, and it just got worse," the witness said.
On three occasions, Ms Marshall searched the oxidation ponds where Lachie was ultimately found.
She made her first trip in bare feet.
Counsel assisting the coroner Simon Mount, KC, asked her if it had caused her any pain.
Mr Mount explained Lachie was found without shoes on and people have questioned whether the boy could walk more than a kilometre over gravel and through tall grass.
Ms Marshall said while walking the gravel road did hurt her feet, it was not something she was focused on and was not aware of any damage to her feet after the trip.
Lachie was found in the pond with no marks on his feet or legs, leaving some questioning if he really walked there and drowned as police concluded.
During her search, Ms Marshall was on the pond banks and could see into the water, but all she could see was "heaps" of ducks.
The court has heard from numerous witnesses that Lachie liked to chase ducks.
She said after her search, Lachie’s father, Paul Jones, had come to Ms Officer’s house and the situation became "pretty heated".
"There was a lot of yelling and swearing," the witness explained.
When Mr Mount put it to her that she had been corroborating with Ms Officer, the witness denied it.
"I’m not even answering that because it’s ridiculous and offensive," Ms Marshall said.
The witness said she had checked on Ms Officer following Lachie’s death, but they did not discuss what happened.
The inquest continues this week.
