Silent evidence : inside the police search for Ben and Olivia / John Goulter ; [with a foreword by Rob Pope].

Foreword by Rob Pope

On New Year's Eve 1997, Ben Smart and Olivia Hope went partying with friends in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. By New Year's Day they were missing. The search to find Ben and Olivia, or - as the days wore on - to find out what had happened to them, immediately chilled New Zealand. It was every parent's nightmare. And it was a sad awakening to the fact that even in a place as idyllic as the Sounds, which many Kiwis saw as paradise on earth, tragedy and evil could occur. Det. Insp. Rob Pope was charged with establishing Ben's and Olivia's fate. His inquiry had to find explanations for 4 grieving parents and an outraged community. And it soon had to find a killer and bring him to justice. The case became the biggest investigation Pope had been involved in throughout his police career. The author, a journalist, followed the case from its early stages. With the co-operation of Pope, he tells the story of the investigation and subsequent trial. Never before has a case attracted so much media attention. But the author found there was an untold story going on behind the headlines. This is that story