Christchurch police believe missing Braydon Hepworth is no longer alive

Christchurch police said on Thursday, 8 October, that their inquiries suggest missing 21-year-old Braydon Hepworth is no longer alive. Officers searched properties in the New Zealand city as they continued investigating his disappearance, Radio New Zealand reported. Police have not confirmed his death or disclosed what the latest searches found.

‘Our inquiries to date suggest Braydon is no longer alive,’ Detective Inspector Scott Anderson said, according to RNZ. His statement marks a change from earlier police appeals seeking information about Hepworth’s whereabouts. Anderson did not publicly explain the evidence behind the assessment, and the cited reporting does not establish when investigators formed it.

Searches in Linwood and Edgeware

Police carried out several search warrants in Christchurch on Thursday, including at properties in Linwood and Edgeware, RNZ reported. Anderson said police could not share details of what the warrants had found. The searches followed an examination of a property on England Street that police believed was Hepworth’s last known address.

Hepworth was last confirmed seen on 3 September at a Z Energy service station in Linwood, Anderson said. That sighting remains the last confirmed point in the public timeline. The police account cited by RNZ does not say where he went afterward, where he is now, or what happened to him.

The Otago Daily Times, reporting through Allied Media before Thursday’s development, also described the completed examination of the England Street property. Its account placed Hepworth’s last confirmed sighting at the Linwood service station on 3 September. That earlier reporting documents the search before police publicly expressed their belief that he was no longer alive.

What Hepworth’s family has said

Hepworth’s mother, Char Huntley, had appealed publicly for help from 22 September, the Otago Daily Times reported. She said her son had Type 1 diabetes and needed insulin daily. Those concerns were part of the family’s appeal while his whereabouts were unknown; the reporting does not establish whether his medical condition played any role in his disappearance.

Huntley also said Hepworth had a nine-month-old daughter and two siblings. She described the uncertainty over where he was, whether he was safe and whether he needed help. Anderson called Hepworth a father and a son and said police were determined to get answers for his family, RNZ reported.

A neighbour told Allied Media that the England Street property examined by police was backpackers’ accommodation and said she had not seen or heard trouble there. The neighbour’s account provides a description of the property, but does not explain Hepworth’s disappearance or establish any involvement by people who stayed there.

Police appeal for information

Anderson said police believed there were people in the community who knew what had happened to Hepworth and urged them to come forward, RNZ reported. He said even a small piece of information could help officers locate him. Police have not identified a suspect or announced a charge in the cited accounts.

Anyone with information can contact New Zealand Police by calling 105 or using 105.police.govt.nz and quoting reference 260918/8420. RNZ also reported that anonymous information could be given to Crime Stoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or through its New Zealand website. The earlier police update gave the same case reference for tips.

For now, the public account establishes a police assessment, an active inquiry and an appeal for information. Police have not disclosed the findings from Thursday’s warrants or the basis for their belief that Hepworth is no longer alive. His location and the circumstances of his disappearance remain unknown in the cited reports.