Police seek information about Chantelle McLaughlin-Middlemiss’s death on Waiheke Island

New Zealand Police appealed for information on 7 October about the death of Chantelle McLaughlin-Middlemiss, 32, at her home in Onetangi on Waiheke Island. Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Friend said police regard the circumstances of her 2 June death as suspicious and believe a small number of people may have information that could help investigators determine what happened.

The appeal centres on the period before two emergency calls to her Waiheke Road property on the day she died. Police say the first visit ended with no immediate intervention; people known to her family found her unresponsive in bed later that afternoon. The public accounts do not establish a cause of death or explain what happened between those events.

What police say happened at the Onetangi home on 2 June

Emergency services first went to the property at about 2:42 p.m. after receiving information that McLaughlin-Middlemiss might be dead, according to the police account. Friend said those concerns were allayed at the time and that no immediate concerns required intervention. Police have not set out in the public appeal who made that initial report or what prompted it.

Calls were subsequently made to McLaughlin-Middlemiss’s family, and people known to the family went to the address, Friend said. At about 3:30 p.m., they found her unresponsive in bed. First aid was provided and emergency services were called back to the home, according to police. Fire and ambulance staff attended but could not revive her. She was pronounced dead.

What Operation Gannon investigators are seeking

Police have investigated the death since June under the name Operation Gannon. Friend said the inquiry is focused on the hours before emergency services first attended the property and on people McLaughlin-Middlemiss may have had contact with that day. He said investigators believe some people hold information important to the case and urged them to speak to police.

Friend acknowledged that coming forward might be difficult for some people. ‘I recognise there may be mixed loyalties at play, and some people might feel challenged to come forward,’ he said in the police appeal. He said police wanted to find out what led to McLaughlin-Middlemiss’s death and provide answers to her whānau and children.

Police asked anyone who can assist to call 105 and give reference number 260602/7353 so the investigation team can make contact. The appeal seeks information about her contacts and the sequence of events on 2 June; police have not publicly identified a particular person they want witnesses to describe.

What remains unknown about the death

The 7 October announcement is a public appeal in an investigation that began after McLaughlin-Middlemiss died on 2 June. Friend’s description of the circumstances as suspicious is the police assessment; the available public accounts do not state a medical cause of death, disclose forensic findings or say that anyone has been charged. They also do not establish what, if anything, happened between the first visit and the later discovery.

RNZ and 1News each reported the police account of the two emergency calls and Friend’s request for information. Neither published account supplies a direct account from a family member or another witness to the events inside the home. For now, the times and actions in the public timeline come from police, and the question investigators have put to potential witnesses remains open.