Father on run for days with daughter

Father on run for days with daughter
06.11.2004
By LOUISA CLEAVE

Lapana Seve had been on the run with his 4-year-old daughter for three days before she was found murdered in the back seat of his car beside Auckland's Northwestern Motorway.
Mr Seve, 45, picked up daughter Storm Apera-Seve from his estranged wife's Grey Lynn home on Friday and was supposed to take her back on Sunday night.
Storm was due at pre-school on Monday morning and her mother desperately tried to contact Mr Seve.
She went several times to his home and left notes for him.
The little girl was found dead in the back seat of her father's car on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Seve abandoned the car and died when he stepped in front of a truck in heavy rush-hour traffic on the Northwestern.
Police are treating Storm's death as a homicide, but are not looking for anyone else in connection with the killing.
It emerged yesterday that Mr Seve had not returned Storm after weekend visits on other occasions.
Mr Seve had weekend custody of his daughter, but is believed to have wanted full custody.
"He's been quite wrapped up in his daughter, quite obsessed with his daughter ... wanting her with him all the time," said Detective Sergeant Megan Goldie.
Storm's mother did not contact police when he failed to return the preschooler.
"She did not have concerns for the child's welfare, as such," said Ms Goldie, "more that she wanted her back. She was supposed to be at pre-school on Monday."
John McKeown, a friend of Mr Seve for 15 years, said Storm's parents split about a year ago and a problem had developed over custody.
"I gather he wanted to look after her and his parents were talking about helping him look after her," he said.
Police have examined an area of the Avondale Racecourse where Mr Seve and Storm are thought to have slept rough in his car.
Ms Goldie said Mr Seve was seen there on Wednesday and in the days before his death on the motorway.
Storm was seen with him earlier in the week, but was not seen on Wednesday, said Ms Goldie.
Tests are being carried out on patches in the parking area which may be blood stains.
Police cannot yet say when Storm died and have not revealed the cause of death, although it is understood she had stab wounds.
A forensic examination of Mr Seve's vehicle has been completed.
Ms Goldie said police were not looking for a weapon. "We think we have what we need in the car."
Members of the Richmond Rovers Rugby League Club last night gathered in Grey Lynn to remember Mr Seve, a coach, referee and player they knew by the nickname "Squash".
Friends said Mr Seve was devastated by the death of his close friend Afi Ah Kuoi from cancer last May.
Mr Ah Kuoi died two years after losing his wife, and Mr Seve was close to the couple.
"He was very close with the family, then when this custody thing came up, maybe it was the final straw for him and he just cracked," Mr McKeown said.
George Apelu-Tumaseve, who had known Mr Seve for 30 years, told 3News last night that any custody battle "would have tipped him over the edge, if it happened that he'd lost custody of Storm, knowing how close he was to Storm ... She was the apple of his eye".