The cause of the death of a man whose body was not found for nearly a year after he hid following a crash remains unexplained, a coroner has ruled.  

However, she’s ruled out foul play, and says his death occurred in the context of exposure to “adverse weather conditions”.  

Joel Linwood went missing after a crash on Old West Coast Rd, Darfield in Canterbury on July 18, 2021. His body was not found until June 5, 2022.  

Today, Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame released her findings regarding the 31-year-old’s death. 

Linwood was supposed to appear in court in Christchurch on July 31, 2021. 

A day before the crash, while in Greymouth, he met with his partner and told her he was going to Christchurch. He had cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet, and there were warrants issued for his arrest. 

Christchurch man Joel Linwood fled police after a crash in Darfield on July 18, 2021. His body was not found until June 2022. 

On July 18, Linwood and another friend, Shane McDonald, picked up Letitia Holley from her home in Runanga. They then left for Christchurch. 

At 2.50pm, police received a complaint regarding a vehicle that had turned into Old West Coast Rd, swerving on to the roadside and speeding. 

Senior Constable Hamish Caird, who was based in Darfield, headed towards the road. 

Holley told police she remembered thinking they were going quite fast as the steering wheel was “wiggling around” as they drove. 

She said the Hilux “just went off the road, and we nose-dived and ended up in a paddock”. Linwood told her she should stay calm, and he walked off across the paddock. 

Linwood approached a family who had pulled over to help and asked if he could get a ride to his father’s home. 

As they drove along the road, Linwood was asked how far away the house was, and he asked if they could take him to his friend’s house in West Melton. The family felt “uneasy” and said they could only take him back to the crash site, as it was out of their way. 

Joel Linwood was a "prolific car thief", police earlier said. Photo / NZ Police 

When they returned, Linwood got out of the car and walked towards the scene. 

At 3pm, Caird was told the vehicle had crashed. When he got to the scene he spoke to McDonald, who denied being the driver. One of the witnesses said a man ran away across the paddock towards the Waimakariri River area as police arrived. Police established the Hilux was stolen and Linwood was involved. 

A police dog located a “strong track” leading across the paddock and over a fence towards the river. The dog handler came across a group of people who said they had not seen anyone in the riverbed. The constable stayed in the riverbed for several hours. Police also used a drone with a thermal imaging camera. 

At 4.12pm, Linwood’s partner called his phone but got no response. Shortly afterwards, she received two messages from Linwood through Facebook. 

“Crash hun love you lots xo xo old west coast Rd springfield mum [sic],” the first message read. 

He then said he was “hiding”, and asked her to stop ringing as she was “using my battery up”. 

She never heard from him again. 

She reported him missing to police on July 23. 

On July 26, police went back to the area they had previously searched. A police dog did not indicate there was a body present. 

A helicopter search of the Waimakariri River revealed nothing of interest. 

Police planned search-and-rescue exercises for the area on three occasions, but they were all postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions. 

On June 5, 2022, a hunter was at the Waimakariri River when he came across shoes on the ground. 

“On closer inspection, he saw a hip bone and a skull covered in camouflage material,” Cunninghame said. 

When police arrived, they found the body about 1m away from the pond, surrounded by bullrushes, broom and overhanging willow. A green jacket, jeans, a T-shirt and shoes were found. Linwood was identified through dental records. 

A forensic pathologist said an inability to evaluate the remains for definite evidence of injury or examine organs meant it was not possible to determine the cause of death. 

“Lack of injury to bone would suggest it is likely that [Linwood] did not die due to injuries sustained in a motor vehicle crash,” the pathologist’s report said. 

Exposure to “cold environmental conditions” was a possible contribution or cause of death. 

Several people approached police with rumours that Linwood’s death was suspicious. The coroner said there was no evidence to support the rumours. 

“Police have advised the inquiry that the most likely scenario is that Joel hid in the pond to avoid detection by police and that he succumbed to the cold. It was winter, the weather was wet and windy, and police estimated the nighttime temperature to have got as low as 1C. I consider this scenario to be plausible.” 

The coroner said police made “appropriate efforts” to find Linwood immediately after the crash. 

While she appreciated Linwood’s family were “distressed” by how long it took to find his body, it was not relevant to the circumstances of his death. 

“I have found that Joel died on or about the same day as the accident, and so even if it were the case that police had failed to conduct an adequate search for Joel once family reported him missing, this would not have resulted in a different outcome.” 

Joel Linwood slipped through the cracks, his mother says 

Sheree Linwood told the Herald her son had a fascination with cars from a young age, with his room full of car keys. 

“From that age, you couldn’t leave him around your vehicles, simple as that.” 

He was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 6 and took medication but was eventually taken off it. 

As he got older, he appeared to “slip through the cracks”, Linwood said. 

“Then he started getting in trouble… He wasn’t a criminal. It was a case of surviving, I think. 

“He had his thing for driving. He stole cars, and I think that was just to get around.” 

A police press release in 2013 referred to Linwood as a “prolific car thief”. 

Linwood said the family had not celebrated Christmas with her son since he was 19 years old because he was always in prison. 

“He was institutionalised. He’d get in there, he’d get out, and then within two or three months he’d be back in there.” 

When she heard he had joined a gang, she hoped he had found the “brotherhood he needed”. 

“He just needed that one person that was going to stick by him. I was just waiting for that day it would be over - when Joel would be settled down. 

“And he tried hard to be good. He really did. He tried so hard.” 

She said the 11-month wait for his body to be found was “the worst thing in my life”. She was “relieved” when he was found and she could finally bring him home. 

She remained disappointed she did not have answers about her son’s death and that it took so long for him to be found. 

“It’s traumatic. I cry every day for him… I was waiting for that day when he hit 30. I thought, ‘Now he’s 30, the change is going to happen soon. He just needs to meet that right woman’. I looked forward to being with Joel. 

“A big part of my life is gone.” 

Sam Sherwood is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers crime. He is a senior journalist who joined the Herald in 2022, and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.