Claire Gets Bargo Back Home

By John Freer

As luck would have it, Claire Bett was a sober driver at a New Year’s Eve party. She noticed a small dog mixing with the partygoers which prompted her to check out a media website photo of a missing dog and its owner.

Still not quite sure, at 10pm Claire messaged a friend and the mother of missing Waihi man, Jordan van Deursen, who responded by sending back a photograph of the missing animal.

The dog sitting next to her on a couch was the one in the photograph – Claire shed tears realising she had found Bargo, who had been missing in the Coromandel ‘s Wentworth Valley area since October 29, last year.

Bargo had made it from the eastern end of the Wentworth River track to the Wires Road and the Maratoto track – some six and a half hours of walking. He walked into the isolated house on December 30.

The next day in Thames, Bargo was reunited with the mother of the missing man and other family and friends.

A fortunate twist was that if Claire had not recognised Bargo, the next day another partygoer who had befriended Bargo, was going to rehome him to Tauranga, meaning the connection would not have been made.

Now Bargo’s return has prompted significant social media activity with plans being prepared for locals to take horses into the bush, along with Bargo, to see if they can locate any trace of Jordan.

A family spokesman said hope had passed for finding Jordan alive, but they still wanted to bring him home.

Open the link below to hear our interview with Claire Bett.