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A fresh police investigation into the death of Gore toddler Lachie Jones is nearing completion, with senior detectives from outside the region appointed to lead and oversee the inquiry. 

Police confirmed the new investigation began last year following a direction from Coroner Alexander Ho, who ordered a “full and fresh” reinvestigation after finding serious shortcomings in the original police response to Lachie’s death in 2019. 

Detective Inspector Darrell Harpur, of Waikato District, is leading the inquiry as Senior Investigating Officer. Detective Superintendent Ross McKay, a territorial detective superintendent from the North Island, has oversight of the investigation as Senior Responsible Officer. 

Coroner Alexander Ho delivered his findings in the Invercargill District Court in June last year. Photo / Southland Times 

Police said McKay contacted the Coroner’s office on Thursday to provide an update on the investigation’s progress. 

In a statement to the Herald, police said the investigation is “near completion”. 

The reinvestigation follows the coroner’s findings delivered in Invercargill on June 12 last year, which criticised the initial police and medical investigations and concluded the cause of Lachie’s death could not be determined on the balance of probabilities. 

While Coroner Ho said he was not satisfied that accidental drowning was the most likely explanation, he also rejected specific theories advanced during the inquest that Lachie had been murdered and his body concealed. 

He found it was a “main fact” that Lachie’s mother, Michelle Officer, did not cause him direct harm in a manner materially contributory to death. 

He also found there was no evidence that Lachie’s eldest half-brother was involved in the circumstances of the child’s disappearance. 

Coroner Ho concluded that while the possibility of third-party involvement could not be entirely excluded, there was no evidence to support such a theory, and emphasised that his direction for reinvestigation should not be taken as implicating any individual as complicit in or responsible for Lachie’s death. 

Lachie died in January 2019 after going missing from his Gore home and was later found in nearby oxidation ponds. 

The inquest into the death of Lachie Jones ended on June 12 last year, with Coroner Ho directing a fresh police investigation. Photo / Ben Tomsett 

His death prompted an inquest and two previous police investigations. 

At the time of the findings, police acknowledged the initial investigation fell short of expected standards. 

They said changes had since been made nationally, including requiring detectives to attend and oversee investigations into the deaths of children under 10. 

Police have not disclosed what work has been undertaken during the reinvestigation, whether new evidence has been identified, or when a final report will be completed. 

The coroner left the inquest open pending the outcome of the police reinvestigation and directed police to report back on their progress. 

Police said further information would be released once the reinvestigation process is complete. 

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.