The Lost 01 | Kirsa Jensen

Paloma Migone digs into the cold cases of those who never came
home. In episode one, Robyn Jensen says she'll never give up hope
of finding her daughter, Kirsa.


This series was first released on 3 November 2017


Watch a video segment from the episode here


Time is running out for Robyn Jensen.


The 72 year-old hasn't seen her daughter, Kirsa, in more than 34
years.


Kirsa was 14 when she went missing while riding her horse,
Commodore, along a Napier beach on the first day of spring in
1983. The terrible story gripped the country for weeks, months,
years. Teenage girls weren't meant to just disappear in broad
daylight. Not here. Not like this. Yet while the mystery remains
unsolved, Robyn's questions just remain. What happened to Kirsa,
the animal-loving teenage girl who would be 49 next month?


Despite the passage of time, Robyn's determination to find her
daughter hasn't faded - it's only become more urgent. Rather than
time being a healer, it's opening a new wound as the fear grows
her own life could end before she's able to put Kirsa to rest.


"She's my daughter. She is just so very precious to me and the
longer it goes, the harder it is because one day I may be dead
and she may not be found.


"To be able to locate her and put her in a decent place, to rest
forever, is vitally important to me."


Robyn has spoken with RNZ as part of a new podcast, The Lost,
which looks into some of the country's missing persons cases.


"There is a whole new generation of people who don't know or
haven't heard or know that there was a girl in Napier that
something happened to," she says.


Robyn describes her daughter Kirsa as a serious and dedicated
child, who adored animals and dreamed of being a vet and a rider
for the New Zealand equestrian team.


"When I think of her, I think curls and bubbles and laughter and
responsibility," she says. "Generous and kind and putting others
first, but so dedicated to what she wanted to do. She would have
done anything for an animal."


Before her disappearance, the family was living in Napier, as
Kirsa's father, Dan, was the Anglican minister at St Augustine's
Church. Kirsa had been volunteering at a local vet clinic and
training Commodore for the upcoming Hawke's Bay Royal A&P
Show during the school holidays…


Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details