Elisabeth Nicholls vanished from retirement village hours being admitted
Elisabeth Nicholls.
Photo:
Supplied / NZ police
The retirement village where Christchurch woman Elisabeth Nicholls disappeared from says it's "terribly saddened" by the news police searching for her have
found a body
.
The 79-year-old, who suffered from dementia, walked out of the Margaret Stoddart Retirement Village in Riccarton on the evening of 4 June, only hours after being admitted for respite care.
On Sunday, police found a body believed to be that of Nicholls in the Gracefield Avenue area, only two kilometres from where she went missing.
The Margaret Stoddart Retirement Village was run by Ryman Healthcare.
In a statement, Ryman's chief operating officer Marsha Cadman said the company was supporting its residents and team members in the village and continuing to liaise with police.
"Ryman, along with our Margaret Stoddart Village team, are "terribly saddened" by the news that a body has been found in the search for Elisabeth Nicholls. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to Elisabeth's family and friends at this incredibly difficult time," she said.
The company would work with Health NZ to look into what happened, a Ryman spokesperson said.
Nicholls was referred to the village for respite care by Health NZ.
"Our contracts with them set out the level of care to be provided. Margaret Stoddart Village provides only rest home level care, whereby residents are able to come and go independently. This is not a dementia care facility," the spokesperson said.
Nicholls arrived at the retirement village on the morning of 4 June and was last seen at 6.01pm.
"At 6.20pm, team members at the village became aware that Elisabeth may have chosen to leave, on what was her first night at the village, and immediately commenced a search of the premise," Ryman said.
"A village search was undertaken including a search of each room, shared space and the rest home grounds, followed by contacting next of kin. As is standard protocol, if a resident is still unable to be located following this process, we then contact police."
The last confirmed sighting of Nicholls was over an hour later at the Chateau on the Park Hotel in Riccarton, about 500 metres from the retirement village.
Following her disappearance, police and Land Search and Rescue volunteers scoured areas of the city to find Nicholls.
Pleas were made for the public to check their backyards and anywhere she might have taken refuge.
In a statement, Nicholls' family said they were very saddened and relieved she had been found on Sunday.
The family was very grateful for everyone's efforts in looking for her, particularly police and members of the Christchurch public.
Detective Sergeant Luke Vaughan said on Sunday he hoped the discovery would help provide some closure for her family and loved ones.
Formal identification is yet to take place.
The death will be referred to the coroner.
RNZ approached Health NZ for comment.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
What will new 'smart' implants mean for hearing loss patients
Photo: Supplied New Zealanders can now get access to what's being described as the first "smart" hearing implant system. The Nuclear Nexa implant has been manufactured by global hearing device company Cochlear, and is the only cochlear implant with internal memory and upgradeable firmware. It means a user's personal settings can be stored on the implant itself, and the firmware can be upgraded when needed - rather than replaced. One in five Kiwis are living with some form of hearing loss, with early diagnosis touted by experts as the best way to slow the decline. To discuss the technology, I'm joined by Stu Sayers, president of Asia Pacific and Latin America region at Cochlear. Also joining, is Michel Neeff, an ear, nose and throat surgeon and clinical director of the Northern Cochlear Implant Programme for Adults in Auckland.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Northland nurses and healthcare assistants strike over ongoing pay dispute
Nurses say Health NZ's pay offer does not keep up with the cost of living. (File photo) Photo: RNZ About 50 theatre nurses and healthcare assistants (HCAs) at Northland's Whangārei Hospital are striking on Tuesday over their ongoing pay dispute with Health New Zealand. The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) said perioperative nurses and HCAs from the surgical admission unit, theatre and post anaesthetic units would be taking turns to undertake three four-hour strikes, starting at 7am and ending at 7pm. The strike comes just a week after more than 200 senior doctors and dentists in Northland striked for 24 hours . Steph Moule, a theatre nurse speaking in her capacity as an NZNO delegate, said the latest offer by HNZ amounted to a one percent increase this year, and a further one percent next April. "That doesn't keep up with the cost of living and will see nurses and health care workers and their whānau going backwards financially," she said. Moule said HNZ's offer for senior nurses was not enticing enough to attract experienced nurses into the roles. Moule said nurses and HCAs were overworked and burnt out. "Just about every single day now, all of us theatre nurses get a text sent to us from management to say there's one nurse short for the afternoon shift which is acute theatre - so that has to be covered - and they're looking for volunteers to pick the shifts up," she said. Moule said she was seeing the impacts of the government not adequately funding the health system and patients suffering because of it. "If they're getting sicker and sicker before they get to us, then it takes longer for them to recover. "I had a patient the other day who'd waited four years for a joint replacement surgery," she said. HNZ's acting northern region deputy chief executive Mike Shepherd said in a statement that they had worked with the union to agree that life preserving services will be maintained during the strike. "We would like to reassure the public that all our emergency services are continuing and we are available if needed. "We ask people to continue to attend their appointments unless they have been contacted and rescheduled," he said. Shepherd said he was disappointed the strike action was happening during bargaining with NZNO. "We would like to specifically note that while the NZNO have suggested staffing is one of the issues they are striking over, the current vacancy rate in the perioperative departments at Whangarei Hospital is currently only 4 FTE (<2%) and recruitment has occurred to these roles." Shepherd said he believed HNZ made a fair offer that included targeted and general pay uplifts that were affordable. He said the offer also adopted the Employment Relation Authority's recommendations following faciliation. Shepherd said HNZ was committed to a settlement of the collective agreement. He said nurse salaries had outperformed broader labour market outcomes since 2011. He claimed that for registered nurses, the top salary step rose by $45,377 between 2011 and 2024 - which included a $16,444 pay equity settlement. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
Sir Graham Henry, herpes, and an award-winning ad campaign
Sir Graham Henry. Photo: Supplied When Sir Graham Henry got a call from a young ad man asking him to front a campaign about a taboo subject, his answer was surprising. "It was quite daunting to call him up," says Sam Stuchbury, creative director and founder of Motion Sickness. "No one really wants to be in a herpes ad." Sam Stuchbury, executive creative director of Motion Sickness Photo: Supplied But Sir Graham said 'yes' to the campaign, and last week took his support of the campaign further by beaming into the prestigious Cannes Lions global ad awards with a tongue in cheek message of congratulations to New Zealand for being "the best place in the world to have herpes". The campaign was awarded two Grand Prix and four other prizes at Cannes, where they competed with more than 26,000 entries. Stuchbury tells The Detail how he nervously phoned Sir Graham, and before he could complete his pitch the former All Black coach said, "yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll do it". With Sir Graham on board, the team at Motion Sickness then approached other New Zealand "icons" including Sir Ashley Bloomfield, Sir Buck Shelford and comedian Angella Dravid. The agency had been given a brief from the Herpes Foundation: to remove the stigma from genital herpes , an infection that one in three sexually active New Zealand adults have. Foundation trustee Alaina Luxmoore says the organisation had been trying to destigmatise herpes for more than 20 years. A still image from the award-winning herpes ad. Photo: Supplied "It has never, ever, ever worked," she says. "You're up against mainstream media; being the punchline joke in movies and songs and TV; decades and decades and decades of internalised shame about herpes as being akin to some type of sexual proclivity or uncleanliness. "It felt like you could never shake the stigma." When the agency came back to Luxmoore with the campaign tagline "Make New Zealand the best place in the world to have herpes", her reaction was instant. "'Oh my gosh, that's it.' By the end of the weekend after we'd heard that line for the first time I couldn't shake it and we were giddy with excitement." Both Luxmoore and Stuchbury were shocked at the worldwide reaction, with 22 million PR impressions, a reflection of the number of people reached by the campaign in the first eight weeks, and more than 10,000 hours of educational content watched. "I didn't expect the level of admiration from overseas people and we had a lot of herpes organisations from other places around the world reaching out and saying, can I share your content, can you tell me about it. "American podcasts, English researchers who are doing their degrees on the stigma around herpes. Lots and lots of international eyes on us and I didn't expect that." For Luxmoore it was also a surprising personal experience, as she fronted for media interviews for the foundation about why destigmatisation was so important. "It was like, 'who is the person who can speak to the lived experience of herpes' and that's me. The reason I'm on the board is because I have herpes." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
