Yuna and Minu Jo attended Papatoetoe South School before their deaths in 2018. Photo: SuppliedThe school attended by murdered children Yuna and Minu Jo says it's shocked and saddened the Ministry of Education did not report their disappearance to police. Issues identified in failure to report disappearanceMinistry documents showed the system failed to require the school to submit a non-enrolment notification. Deputy secretary Helen Hurst said the ministry worked internally to analyse how the school attendance systems had operated in Minu and Yuna's case. Hurst said work was underway to establish an information sharing agreement with police, to ensure children missing from school are found.

Source: Otago Daily Times February 23, 2026 23:53 UTC