A decision on whether charges are laid over the death of a nine-year-old Eketahuna girl run over by a boat on Lake Taupo could be made by the Crown Solicitor, police say.
Genevieve Lewis was water skiing yesterday behind her parents' boat at Waipahihi Bay, about 2km south of Taupo's centre, when she fell off her skis.
Her parents were turning their boat around to come back to her when another boat, coming from a different direction, ran over the top of her, Detective Senior Sergeant Todd Pearce, of Taupo police, said.
The driver of the boat stopped and helped Genevieve and her family. She was taken to shore but died at the scene, despite the efforts of St John Ambulance officers.
Police had nearly completed the immediate aspects of the inquiry and would now concentrate on witnesses, Mr Pearce said.
They wanted to hear from anyone who believed they had seen the incident, or events leading up to it.
"Another focus is our researching other previous similar incidents and the action that resulted from those incidents regarding prosecution or not," he said.
"I anticipate that this will take some weeks to complete given that we require engineers to examine and test the boat involved in the incident. We may also need to send items away for analysis to assist in the ultimate decision-making process.
"Ultimately, this may be a matter that is referred to the Crown Solicitor at Rotorua to decide on what action should be taken."
Genevieve had been a regular at the lake for years, staying at a family holiday home on its shores.
Her maternal grandparents, Martin and Margaret Genet, were among family members who gathered at Waipahihi Bay yesterday afternoon.
Mr Genet, 77, of Dannevirke, said the tragedy was horrible. The family had just had a wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday, he told the New Zealand Herald.
