Lautoka boy’s search for missing father ends in heartbreak

Two days before the New Year, while Lautoka City shoppers geared up for New Year's celebration, 11-year-old Joji Bukete was searching for someone who mattered more to him than fireworks or festivities.

His father.

Joji stood close to his mother, Laisani Mere, as his eyes swept across the busy streets of the city scanning the faces of approaching people with the hope of seeing that familiar smile, one he had seen many times.

Each time a man walked past who looked even slightly  like his dad, his heart leapt. But Avalo Laba never appeared.

Mr Laba, 38, a staff member of the Lautoka City Council, had not returned home since finishing work on December 22.

For Joji, the days that followed felt endless. His father was not just a parent — he was his best friend, his constant companion, the one person who made the world feel safe.

Being an only child, Joji, who will have an emotional start to class seven at Drasa Primary School this year and his father did everything together. 

"We talked, laughed, and played a lot together," the youngster said.

The New Year was meant to be theirs — a time to celebrate, to share that lovo food, stories and hope for the year ahead.

Instead, Joji prayed every night last week for his father’s safe return.

From their home at Vanuakula Settlement in Drasa, mother and son travelled repeatedly into Lautoka, visiting familiar places, scanning crowds, asking questions.

What they did not know — what would later haunt them — was that each journey took them past the very spot where Mr Laba’s body lay hidden in the bushes, just metres from the road.

Five days after he went missing, the search ended.

Mr Laba’s badly decomposed body was discovered in bushes near the Vitogo Police Post. 

The case has been termed a hit and run however police investigations have not been concluded.

Mrs Mere said she identified her husband through his belt and trousers — small details that confirmed a loss too large to comprehend.

“I did not know how I was going to tell my son,” she said quietly.

But before she could find the strength to explain, Joji heard the truth.

“As I was telling some relatives about the discovery of my husband’s body, Joji was in the kitchen and overheard us,” Mrs Mere said.

“He let out a loud scream and kept calling for his father.”

It was a sound, she said, she would never forget.

Mr Laba had left for work as usual on Monday morning. When he did not return home that afternoon, Mrs Mere initially thought he may have gone out drinking.

But by Tuesday morning, the day before New Year’s Eve, unease set in.

“I just knew something was wrong,” she said.

She went into town, checking the police station, the hospital and the Lautoka City Council. No one had answers. No one had seen him. Each day during the week she did.

Still hoping, still believing, she returned to town on New Year’s Eve with Joji.

While others prepared to welcome a new beginning, a mother and her son searched for a man who would never come home.

Today, Joji’s New Year memories are no longer filled with plans and laughter, but with unanswered questions and a silence where his father’s voice once was.

While neighbours welcome the New Year with merriment and dancing, for Joji time stopped the moment his best friend went missing.

Meanwhile police are awaiting the results from the post mortem.