Jane Furlong

Daughter of Michael Thompson Furlong and Judith Anne Furlong, mother of Aidan Norsworthy. Jayne was due to testify as a witness for the prosecution in two separate cases - one involved gang members accused of an assault, the other a businessman charged with brutal attacks on sex workers. She worked part time as a sex worker and in the months before her murder, featured in a documentary about prostitution on Karangahape Road. On the night of her abduction, Jayne was last seen towards the Ponsonby end of Karangahape Road. Nineteen years later, on 19 May 2012, Jayne's remains were found on Sunset Beach in Port Waikato following the erosion of a sandbank. Two months later her family were finally able to farewell her at St George's Anglican Church in Epsom, Auckland. The Police have a person of interest - the only suspect with a connection to Sunset Beach where his family have a bach. Jayne's ashes are looked after by her mother Judith.

• When Furlong was 7 her parents split. Several years later her mother could not cope with the financial pressure of raising three children and paying multiple mortgages and put the girl and one of her brothers into care. Furlong ended up in foster care, living with two different families.
• 1993: Furlong was last seen while working part-time as a sex worker on Karangahape Rd, Auckland on May 28, 1993 [she was a sex worker at 15 and a mother at 17]. The last official sighting was at 8.30pm outside Rendells department store on K Rd - her usual spot.
• There is now strong evidence of a later sighting of Jane the night she went missing, running scared and entering the “Adam and Eve” massage parlour, 500 metres from where Jane was working, towards the Ponsonby end of Karangahape Road.
• Her partner Dani Norsworthy reported her missing at 1am.
• When Furlong disappeared she was due to testify as a witness for the prosecution in two separate cases - one involved gang members accused of an assault, the other a businessman charged with brutal attacks on sex workers.
• On the night of her disappearance, several witnesses saw Furlong run into a Karangahape Rd massage parlour. An employee at the parlour said she was pursued by two "heavies", who said she owed them money for drugs.
• A homicide investigation was launched at the time her remains were discovered and police now believe more than one person was involved
• 2012: Her remains were found on Sunset Beach in Port Waikato on May 19, by a woman walking her dog and were identified by police through DNA testing.
• 2015: Furlong's diary, written in 1991 when she was just 15 years old, provided key evidence in the jury trial of Wayne Michael McGrath, who was found guilty of raping her close friend in 1991. McGrath was a friend and flatmate of Furlong's boyfriend, Danny Norsworthy, for many years before her disappearance.
• Her partner Dani Norsworthy was violent – in Cold Case, friend Amanda Wolfe describes him attacking Furlong with a metal bar. Furlong was also likely a victim of serial-rapist Stephen Collie and was set to be a witness at his trial before her death.
• The POI is the only suspect with a connection to Sunset Beach, where Jane's body was found – his family had a bach there. Police suspect the murderer was connected to Sunset Beach because he chose to bury the body there.
• In the months before her death, Furlong featured in a documentary about prostitution on Karangahape Rd. This footage of her – the real Jane Furlong – and interviews with her contemporaries, including Dani Norsworthy and Amanda Wolfe, from 1993, have a real impact. They all look so young.
• Two months after her remains were found, Jayne was farewelled at at St George’s Anglican Church in Epsom.

Sources

1. https://www.police.govt.nz/stolenwanted/coldcase/2019/jane-furlong-...
2. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/116171173/jane-furlong-cold-...
3. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8454494/Police-offer-reward-...
4. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/7146635/Mother-has-very-stro...
5. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8543343/Surprising-new-leads...
6. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/74178139/
7. https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/113316101/cold-case-...
8. https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/113316101/cold-case-...
9. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/who-killed-jane-furlong-murder-revisi...