died at the same location<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe coroner previously determined their deaths were accidental, after Jarden likely suffered a medical event at the wheel.<\/p>\n
In her findings of September 23, Llewell said Kaipara\u2019s wh\u0101nau and doctor reported she had no known mental health concerns.<\/p>\n
Her wh\u0101nau had, however, become concerned about her wellbeing in the weeks before her death, prompting her brother to move in with her.<\/p>\n
Kaipara was sleeping in her car and would only return home in the mornings to shower.<\/p>\n
![\"]()
Juliet Jacqualine Kaipara died in April 2021 after her car left the road and plunged into Lake Rotom\u0101 near Rotorua. Photo \/ Facebook<\/p>\n
In the days before the crash, she spent time with wh\u0101nau, sometimes appearing happy and other times upset. <\/p>\n
She made \u201cunusual\u201d statements, including about being \u201ccalled\u201d by demons and insisting she was going to die, Llewell found.<\/p>\n
Kaipara called the police on the morning of April 11, asking to be picked up to confess her sins. She then said she would come in to the station, and repeatedly declined an offer for police to come to her.<\/p>\n
The last time her wh\u0101nau saw her alive was about 9pm that night, packing her car. <\/p>\n
About 9.45am the next morning, people stopping at \u014ctangiwai Point saw a vehicle in the water and a body submerged nearby. They called emergency services.<\/p>\n
![\"Emergency]()
Emergency services at \u014ctangiwai Point after a car was found submerged in Lake Rotom\u0101 near Rotorua on April 12, 2021. Kawerau woman Juliet Jacqualine Kaipara was later identified as the driver who died. Photo \/ Andrew Warner<\/p>\n
Senior Constable Michael Chelley\u2019s crash analysis report said there were no known witnesses to the crash.<\/p>\n
Police found the car drove across the opposing lane and roadside rest area, then \u201cvaulted off the embankment\u201d through a gap of about 19m in the metal barriers of a rest area.<\/p>\n
She was likely speeding around the sharp corner and may have been impaired by cannabis, with traces found in her blood.<\/p>\n
There were no signs of braking, or evidence that weather, road conditions and markings, distraction, fatigue, mechanical issues or phone use were factors in the crash.<\/p>\n
Having lived in Kawerau at least 18 years, Kaipara was \u201clikely familiar with this stretch of road\u201d.<\/p>\n
Evidence indicated she \u201csomehow managed to release herself\u201d from her seatbelt and escape the car. <\/p>\n
Her body, with only superficial injuries, was found on the lakebed about 4m from the vehicle.<\/p>\n
While a medical event could not be conclusively ruled out, the crash analyst considered a \u201clack of evasive action\u201d and a \u201cpossible undiagnosed underlying mental health issue could suggest an intentional act\u201d.<\/p>\n
Chelley concluded the most likely cause of the crash was an intentional act.<\/p>\n
![\"]()
\u014ctangiwai Point, off SH30 along Lake Rotom\u0101, in 2019, with no wooden barrier between the metal barriers. Photo \/ Google<\/p>\n
Coroner Llewell\u2019s findings said a death could not amount to suicide if a person\u2019s mental state meant they could not form a suicidal intention.<\/p>\n
Kaipara releasing her seatbelt and escaping the car implied she attempted to survive.<\/p>\n
While Kaipara\u2019s behaviour may have indicated \u201cmental health imbalance\u201d when she died, Llewell found it was not conclusive of suicidal intention.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn balance, it is more probable than not that her death was not intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n
Llewell concluded Kaipara died by drowning in an accidental crash.<\/p>\n
Coroner, police call for improved road barriers<\/p>\n
Wooden barriers have been added across the gap between the existing metal Armco barriers at the \u014ctangiwai Point rest area since Kaipara died.<\/p>\n
The wooden barriers still had \u201cbreaks\u201d, which Llewell believed could be to allow foot access to the lake from the rest area, which was used for dive training.<\/p>\n
![\"]()
\u014ctangiwai Point pictured in 2024, with wooden barriers in the gap between the metal Armco barriers. Photo \/ Google<\/p>\n
Police had recommended the metal barriers be extended and overlap, to stop vehicles from leaving the road.<\/p>\n
Llewell endorsed the recommendation and said commercial or private interests should not displace the public interest of reducing the risk of more vehicles going into the lake.<\/p>\n
A New Zealand Transport Agency spokesperson told the Rotorua Daily Post the wooden sight-rails were installed after the 2021 crash.<\/p>\n
\u201cNZTA will now undertake a safety review of the location and assess the options for closing off the unprotected section of the lake shore, as far as is practicable, while maintaining the amenity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Llewell and the NZTA offered condolences to Kaipara\u2019s wh\u0101nau and friends. <\/p>\n
Where to get help <\/p>\n
Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24\/7)Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24\/7)Youth services: (06) 3555 906Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234What\u2019s Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24\/7)Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737Aoake te R\u0101 (Bereaved by Suicide Service): 0800 000053 or referrals@aoake-te-ra.org.nz <\/p>\n
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111<\/p>\n
Megan Wilson<\/a> is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kaipara was remembered online at the time of her death as a person with an \u201cinfectious laugh\u201d who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1443,17520,115,12629,3549,13482,51029,11784,11424,2082,18845,51030,51028,23157,13207,111,43,139,69,1314,51027,427,8911,1961,1455],"class_list":["post-62319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-about","tag-barriers","tag-calls","tag-coroner","tag-crash","tag-discussion","tag-drowned","tag-fatal","tag-finds","tag-for","tag-improved","tag-includes","tag-juliet","tag-kaipara","tag-lake","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-road","tag-rotom","tag-story","tag-suicide","tag-this","tag-warning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}