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THE TAXMAN WHO VANISHED - 4 December 2006
It is 50 years since Maureen Thomas's husband mysteriously disappeared, but she never stops thinking about him. Left with four young children and pregnant with a fifth when Patrick Fisk vanished, she had to carry on. A second happy marriage, which again left her a widow, failed to dull the memories. An Inland Revenue inquiry officer based in Tauranga, 37-year-old Pat Fisk went on a routine assignment to the remote Murupara forestry area on 5 December 1956, and never returned. His family believe he is dead, probably murdered. 'But until we know what happened, we cannot lay the matter to rest', says Mrs Thomas, who celebrated her 83rd birthday yesterday with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren at her Whangaparaoa home. 'I want the answer before I die. He was my darling man, my first love ... There is no way he would have just left us without a word'. She and her children believe there are still people alive who know what happened to Pat Fisk, who is still listed officially as a missing person.
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His departmental car, a 1954 blue-grey Vauxhall, was found undamaged in a clearing off the road bordering the rugged Ureweras. The area known as 'The Summit' - the top of the pass between Te Whaiti and Ruatahuna - was the sort of peaceful spot he habitually stopped at for lunch on his travels. The sandwiches his wife packed for him were open on the seat, and on the floor of the car was a Thermos and a cup three-quarters filled with tea. The driver's door was open and the petrol tank half full, but the keys were missing. There was no sign of a struggle. Pat Fisk was born in England and joined the Punjab Police at 19, serving on the Northwest Frontier in India, where he rose to superintendent. At 23, he married 19 year old Maureen Carpendale, daughter of a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Indian Army. With Indian independence looming, they moved to England but found it 'grey and depressed' and decided to emigrate to New Zealand.
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