27 November 2025
The murders of Yuna and Minu Jo are devastating. These two children were enrolled in school, connected to a GP, and part of their local community before disappearing from the education system. Four years later, they were found deceased.
In an interview with RNZ, Safeguarding Children Chief Executive Willow Duffy said that while the children’s school did try to locate them, the wider system missed critical opportunities.
“When I read about the way that they died, without anybody realising, it is heartbreaking. More could have been done, and those children deserved that.”
Willow is calling for stronger safeguards when a child is absent and cannot be located. She is urging the Ministry of Education to put in place a clear protocol between education, police, and Oranga Tamariki so concerns about missing children lead to coordinated checks on their safety.
“There needs to be a memorandum of understanding between education, police and Oranga Tamariki. This is an opportunity to improve our system. We know it happened in this case. We do not know where else it may be happening.”
Willow says unexplained absence should be treated as a safeguarding concern, not only an enrolment or attendance issue. A simple notification pathway to police could help ensure children are safe, especially where families have left the country.
The Ministry of Education has indicated that work is underway on an agreement with police. Safeguarding Children supports this step and encourages further action to strengthen cross-agency information-sharing.
Every child deserves to be accounted for, protected, and safe. Cases like this remind us why robust systems – backed by curiosity, collaboration, and clear processes – are essential.
Read the full RNZ article: ‘More could have been done’: How two murdered children were taken out of school and fell through the cracks.